Canada - Legalization bill passes, cannabis will be legal Oct. 17

S.J.B.

S.J.B.

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Senate passes pot bill, paving way for legal weed in 8 to 12 weeks
Peter Zimonjic
CBC
June 19th, 2018

Senators have voted to pass the federal government's bill legalizing recreational marijuana by a vote of 52 to 29, with two abstentions, paving the way for a fully legal cannabis market within eight to 12 weeks.

"I'm feeling just great," said Sen. Tony Dean, who sponsored the bill in the Senate. "We've just witnessed a historic vote for Canada. The end of 90 years of prohibition. Transformative social policy, I think. A brave move on the part of the government."

Dean said he thought the Senate functioned well throughout the process and he was proud of the work the Red Chamber did.

"Now we can start to tackle some of the harms of cannabis. We can start to be proactive in public education. We'll see the end of criminalization and we can start addressing Canada's $7 billion illegal market. These are good things for Canada."

Initially, the government had planned for the bill to be passed by both houses of Parliament in time for retail sales to begin by July 1. That timeline was pushed back after the Senate requested more time to review the bill.
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Read the full story here.
 
Excellent news... though the penalties for possessing certain amounts have become a lot harsher. If you are caught with more than 30g on you or more than 4 plants, it's 5 years in prison. There are more mandatory sentencing guidelines now. But at least now nobody is going to get in trouble for small possession.
 
Will be curious to see what happens in 2 to 3 months up there.

Welcome to 15 years ago for us.

Foreigner said:
Excellent news... though the penalties for possessing certain amounts have become a lot harsher. If you are caught with more than 30g on you or more than 4 plants, it's 5 years in prison. There are more mandatory sentencing guidelines now. But at least now nobody is going to get in trouble for small possession.
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That's fairly insane though (mmj = 8 oz here). Any protections for concentrates?
 
Trudeau says pot will be legal as of Oct. 17, 2018
John Paul Tasker
CBC
June 20th, 2018

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced today that Canadians will be able to consume marijuana recreationally without criminal penalties starting on Oct. 17, 2018 - many months later than the government's initial target date.

"One of the things that we heard very clearly from the provinces is that they need a certain amount of time to get their bricks and mortar stores - their online sales - ready. Producers need time to be able to actually prepare for a regimented and successful implementation of the regime ... This is something that we want to get right," Trudeau told reporters at a press conference held today before the House of Commons rises for its summer recess.

"By giving the provinces more time to ensure that they are fully ready for the day of coming into force of this legislation, it will be a smooth success in all the ways that we can hope for."

While the federal government was responsible for the bill that will ultimately legalize recreational marijuana possession, home growing and sales to adults - by dismantling key aspects of the Criminal Code that ensured prohibition for 95 years - the practical details of implementing legalization have been left largely to the provinces and territories.

As is common in the Canadian system of federalism, each province has taken a different approach - and some are more prepared than others. New Brunswick, for example, has already built its first retail storefront, while Nunavut only passed its legal framework on Tuesday.
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Read the full story here.
 
Foreigner said:
Excellent news... though the penalties for possessing certain amounts have become a lot harsher. If you are caught with more than 30g on you or more than 4 plants, it's 5 years in prison. There are more mandatory sentencing guidelines now.
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To be clear, the maximum punishment for possession of more than 30 grams of cannabis is 5 years less a day. For cultivation of more than four plants, the maximum is higher, 14 years. However, there are no mandatory minimum sentences in this bill, and I highly doubt that real sentences will approach the maximums except in extreme cases.

The full bill can be read here (I don't believe this is the final version, but the aforementioned sentencing provisions have not been changed).
 
psyfiend said:
You can't even have plants in certain provinces..
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Yeah, Manitoba and Quebec. It's too bad - I wouldn't have minded having a plant or two, if only for the novelty. On a hopeful note, though, the federal law explicitly allows cultivation of four plants per household, and there has been talk from legal experts that the provinces may not actually be allowed to ban home cultivation since criminal law is under the purview of the feds. The federal government has all but endorsed legal challenges of provincial bans on home cultivation.
 
QC / biker land they make their pwn rules... so yeah "legalization" is a joke, might have left it the way it was.. nobody ever got in trouble for smoking.

I'd never buy from the gov, fuck them.

No plant should be illegal.
 
It's a step in the right direction. It was supposed to be legal July 1st afaik - my patience is wearing thin.

More can be done in the future, such as what psyfiend said about the legal status of all plants.

Will this ever come to pass at the federal level in America? Sadly, I suspect that until money in politics is properly addressed, we won't see a change. The will of the American people is routinely ignored if the corporate whores in D.C. don't get the blessing of their billionaire + special interests puppet masters.
 
psyfiend said:
QC / biker land they make their pwn rules... so yeah "legalization" is a joke, might have left it the way it was.. nobody ever got in trouble for smoking.

I'd never buy from the gov, fuck them.
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ro4eva said:
It was supposed to be legal July 1st afaik - my patience is wearing thin.
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I think things ought to be put into perspective. Canada is about to become only the second country in the world, and the only industrialized nation, where an adult, without a prescription, can purchase cannabis without any laws being broken in the process. In 2016, there were 42,000 criminal charges brought forward for possession of cannabis. That number is going to plummet drastically as of October 17th. Sure, the legislation does not completely eliminate the potential of criminal charges for people who buy, sell, or grow outside of the new legal framework, but all of the sentencing provisions are either equivalent to or less harsh than under the current legal regime. All mandatory minimum sentences have been removed.

I think the passing of this legislation is fantastic, and no small feat. It is no less than historical.
 
S.J.P. said:
I think things ought to be put into perspective. Canada is about to become only the second country in the world, and the only industrialized nation, where an adult, without a prescription, can purchase cannabis without any laws being broken in the process. In 2016, there were 42,000 criminal charges brought forward for possession of cannabis. That number is going to plummet drastically as of October 17th. Sure, the legislation does not completely eliminate the potential of criminal charges for people who buy, sell, or grow outside of the new legal framework, but all of the sentencing provisions are either equivalent to or less harsh than under the current legal regime. All mandatory minimum sentences have been removed.

I think the passing of this legislation is fantastic, and no small feat. It is no less than historical.
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Come to think of it, it is pretty fantastic. In fact, it feels somewhat surreal.

Didn't think we'd get this far to be honest, so I shouldn't complain.
 
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