Quebec wants to raise the legal age for cannabis use from 18 to 21

Following the general election on October 1, Quebec has a new government. While in opposition, one of new Premier François Legault's election promises was to tighten the province's cannabis laws, in particular by raising the legal age from 18 to 21. Young Quebecers will have had just a few weeks to take advantage of cannabis legalization before returning to the illegal scene.

Quebec to become most restrictive province

The new government, which took office on October 18, has confirmed that it will stick to this line and intends to table its bill during the current legislative session, which began yesterday. «We want to settle this as quickly as possible, within the first 100 days of government,» said Lionel Carmant, the Minister of Health and Social Services in charge of the reform. The reform also aims to ban consumption in public places.

Currently, the legal age for consuming and purchasing cannabis varies from 18 to 19 across the country. By raising the legal age to 21, Quebec would become the most restrictive province in this respect. This measure will affect a significant proportion of Quebec consumers, since 41.7% of 18-24 year-olds said they used cannabis at least once during the year. This is 27.7% higher than the national average. Consumption among young people affected by the reform is already high, and this measure will force this population to turn once again to the black market.

Disregarding expert advice

By forcing 18-21 year-olds to buy on the black market, this measure directly contradicts the primary objective of legalization, which is to combat illegal trafficking and eliminate a large portion of the black market. It also goes against the advice of the Forum of Experts on the Regulation of Cannabis in Quebec, convened in 2017 by the Ministry of Health precisely to prepare for legalization in the best possible way, taking these considerations into account.

According to LeDevoir, According to a Quebec media report, the new government consulted experts from the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) and Ministry of Health officials once again in October. They reiterated the same recommendations, i.e. to maintain the legal age at 18, but the government apparently decided to ignore their position.

The new government is relying on the advice of scientists and health professionals who are concerned about the effect of cannabis on the «developing brain». This argument is put forward in particular by the Association des médecins psychiatres du Québec, but also by the Fédération des médecins spécialistes and several other medical bodies. The latter are concerned about the risk of psychotic disorders that cannabis can induce in young consumers. An argument echoed by the Minister: «What worries us is the psychiatric complications for young children.

For the Forum d'experts sur l'encadrement du cannabis au Québec, this argument is invalid because it is inconsistent with the regulation of alcohol and tobacco. According to them, the age of majority »corresponds to the point at which society recognizes the individual as an adult capable of making informed decisions. The new legal market should therefore give access to young people aged 18 and over, even in the knowledge that the brain continues to develop after they come of age».

Another argument put forward by the current government is the trivialization of the substance: «If we set the legal age at 18, it won't be long before 16-year-olds are using with their friends and parents. We want to avoid trivialization,» declared the Minister, convinced that we must «prevent the long-term deleterious effect» of repeated cannabis use. The proportion of Quebecers aged 15 to 17 who say they have used cannabis once in the year is 31 %. In other words, cannabis has already become commonplace.