From the CBC:
“Quebec passes cannabis law that
will raise legal age to 21”
People in Quebec will need to
wait until they are 21 to legally purchase cannabis under a new law passed by
the Coalition Avenir Québec government. When the age limit is raised from 18 to
21 on Jan. 1, 2020, it will become the highest in the country. Elsewhere in
Canada, cannabis is permitted at age 19, except in Alberta, where the legal age
is 18. Lionel Carmant, the province's junior health minister, said the goal is
to send a "clear message" about the government's priorities. "We
really want to protect our teenagers, which are most vulnerable to
cannabis," he said, adding that the increased age limit has the support of
the majority of Quebecers. The idea of raising the age limit has come under
criticism from some Quebec health professionals, industry groups and Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau. When it was first proposed last year, Trudeau warned
the cannabis rules would be a boon to organized crime and make teens turn
"to the Hells Angels to buy it."
The legislation was approved Tuesday at the National Assembly. Members
of the Coalition Avenir Québec all voted in favour of the law, while all
opposition parties voted against.
Law creates '2 classes of
adults,' says opposition
Some young Montrealers say the
legislation is unfair — and discouraging. "It was nice to go to the store and feel
safe," said Dawson College student Charlie Hession, who just turned 18.
"I don't want to go back to my old ways of getting my product — on the
street." Another Dawson student,
Mia Jodorcovsky, says it doesn't make sense to keep the legal age of alcohol
consumption at 18, and raise it for cannabis consumption. "I think
categorizing [cannabis] as something that's much more detrimental to you [than
alcohol] is not fair, and it's not accurate, and it's sending a wrong
message," Jodorcovsky said. Gabriel
Nadeau-Dubois, spokesperson for the opposition Québec Solidaire, said the law
was discriminatory against young people and not supported by science. "The
CAQ is creating two classes of adults," he said, pointing out that
18-year-olds can vote but won't be able to decide whether they want to purchase
cannabis. The law also immediately bans the sale of cannabis candies and
desserts, including chocolate. They will become legal in the rest of the
country in mid-December. The legislation also includes greater restrictions
around the public consumption of cannabis, though municipalities will have
leeway to determine their own rules. It originally included a ban on growing
cannabis at home. That aspect of the law is being challenged in court.
^ While I still do not believe
that recreational marijuana should be legal anywhere (only medical marijuana
should be) I do not believe that there should be an age discrimination on
adults. If marijuana is legal for adults then it should be legal to all adults 18
years old and older. I think the same about alcohol (if alcohol is legal for
adults then it should be legal to all adults 18 years old and older.) How can a
Country/Province/Territory/State consider someone a legal adult at 18 and not
allow them to do all the legal things the law allows at 18? ^
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-cannabis-law-1.5339477
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