Liberal government to sell pot through SAQ subsidiary stores, price not set yet

Forced into the pot business by the federal government, the province of Quebec tabled a law Thursday that imposes a strict framework for the consumption, sale and distribution of marijuana.

Bill 157 - an act to constitute the Societe quebecoise du cannabis, or SQC - was formally presented in the legislature by the minister for rehabilitation, youth protection, public health and healthy living, Lucie Charlebois.

As expected after almost a year of testing the water with the public, Quebec has opted for a focus on averting potential social, health and safety problems that it fears could follow the liberalization of the use of the drug for recreational purposes.

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Forced into the pot business by the federal government, the province tabled a law on Thursday that imposes a strict framework for the consumption, sale and distribution of marijuana.

Bill 157 - an act to constitute the Societe quebecoise du cannabis or SQC - was formally presented in the legislature by the minister for rehabilitation, youth protection, public health and healthy living, Lucie Charlebois.

As expected after almost a year of testing the water with the public, Quebec has opted for the path of prudence with a focus on averting potential social, health and safety problems that it fears could follow the liberalization of the use of the drug for recreational purposes.

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Provincial legislation calls for government-run stores, zero tolerance for DUIs

MONTREAL- The rollout of legislation governing the legal marijuana regime in Quebec was likely a downer for pot enthusiasts in a province widely known for its European sensibilities and liberal mores.

To call it a buzzkill would set bloodshot eyes rolling, but the Quebec government unveiled plans to create what is likely to be one of the most restrictive regimes so far in the country.

In introducing the legislation to reporters, even Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois admitted that the province was dragged out of the prohibition era much too quickly by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government.

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Safe-driving activists, pot dispensers and businesses all have their own views

Two cannabis activists aren't impressed with the marijuana legalization plan Quebec announced Thursday. But a group that works to decrease impaired driving praised the proposed legislation.

Here's a look at some of the reaction to Bill 157:

Marc-Boris St-Maurice, a longtime pot activist and founder of the Montreal Compassion Centre medical-marijuana dispensary:

"Their plan is still half-baked," he said, noting guidelines announced Thursday are in a draft bill that might change.

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Quebec unveiled its pot plan Thursday. Here are some answers to key questions.

Here are answers to key questions as Quebec moves toward legalization of recreational marijuana by July 2018:

Q Who will be allowed to buy pot?

A Under the cannabis-legalization bill put forward Thursday, anyone over 18 would be able to purchase, possess and use cannabis in Quebec. The province's medical specialists wanted the minimum age set at 21.

Q Where will pot be sold?

A Quebec plans to create the Societe quebecoise du cannabis (SQC), which would sell pot via stores and a website.

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Bill will be tabled - and campaign on dangers launched - Thursday

Conceding it won't be perfect and more time would help, the Couillard government is to table its long-awaited framework law on Thursday outlining how the legalization of cannabis will work in Quebec.

"Would it be better if we had an additional year? I think so," Lucie Charlebois, the minister of rehabilitation, youth protection, public health and healthy living, told reporters Wednesday.

An extension would give her colleague, Finance Minister Carlos Leitao, the time to finalize negotiations with Ottawa over the distribution of future tax revenues.

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Quebec is asking Ottawa for more time to set up an orderly transition to legal recreational marijuana - 24 hours before the province is expected to roll out a framework for sale and use of the drug.

The Quebec National Assembly adopted a motion Wednesday seeking an extra year from the Trudeau government beyond July 1, 2018, when marijuana is set to become legal.

The province says the process is being rushed artificially and the groundwork for issues ranging from law enforcement to taxation and revenue sharing are not ironed out.

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Street ads for Weedmaps app under attack for illegality

MONTREAL- Ben Anson says he was outraged to see a large-scale billboard advertising Weedmaps, an app that lists local marijuana providers, crop up in a spot near several schools in Montreal earlier this year.

Recently, he contacted the company hosting the ad, asking them to take it down because of the presence of children in the area. He says they agreed, replacing that ad with a picture of a giraffe.

But the 47-year-old says he also filed a police complaint against the marketing firm handling Weedmaps' advertising, believing the other ads around the city encourage people to engage in illegal activity.

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With just enough methadone to last the trip home to Montreal, Melodie was in a panic that she'd missed her flight. She was in Paris, and her supply of prescription methadone, a medicine that helps lower cravings and withdrawal symptoms caused by opiate use, was about to run out. Without it, she worried about a relapse, going into the street in desperation, and doing something dangerous for a fix.

But an online search brought her to a Parisian mobile health clinic. And they welcomed her. They gave her the methadone that she needed to stay sober. There was no bureaucracy, no delay, and no prescription signed by someone in authority - just instant help.

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Re: "Study finds pot use can boost violent behaviour" (Montreal Gazette, Oct. 11)

Despite the studies on the effects of pot on users, recreational marijuana is set to become legal in this country, and easily available to anyone over the age of 18 in Quebec.

Our federal and provincial governments should rethink the matter and make access to marijuana more difficult, especially for youths - our future leaders.

It is never too late to review an issue that negatively affects the great society in which we live.

S. Soliman, Brossard

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Coderre says city also entitled to a share to finance resources that will be needed

Left holding the bag on the costs of implementing the policy, Quebec says it wants more than 50 per cent of potential cannabis excise tax revenues.

"It won't be 50-50," Quebec Finance Minister Carlos Leitao told reporters on his way out of a cabinet meeting. "This is just the opening shot. It will not be that at the end of the day."

A cautious Leitao refused to say what level of revenue will satisfy Quebec, noting that the actual price per gram - especially in the state-run system the provinces are creating to undercut organized crime - has yet to be determined.

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As pot legalization looms, Indigenous communities are weighing benefits, risks

MONTREAL- Is it a cash crop to lift struggling First Nations out of poverty, or a vice posing a particular risk for a vulnerable population?

As Canada forges ahead with the legalization of marijuana, slated for July 2018, Indigenous people are split about what to do on their territory.

A number of First Nations have signed investment deals with marijuana producers, lured by the promise of profits and other benefits. Others have slammed on the brakes until they can draw up their own rules for growing and selling what is, for a few more months, an illegal drug.

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'Zero tolerance' to remain in place despite legalization, companies say

If the repercussions from the legalization of cannabis by next July 1 are already preoccupying certain workplaces, the topic is of particular interest to areas of work in which health and security questions are omnipresent, such as construction sites.

"Our rule won't change," said Eric Cote, spokesperson for l'Association de la construction du Quebec (ACQ). "It will be zero tolerance for people working with weakened faculties," be they weakened by alcohol, cannabis or any other substance.

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Premier Philippe Couillard says setting the age to buy legal marijuana at 21 may not be realistic given Quebec's proximity to Ontario, which has set the age at 19.

And there are signs Quebec may be headed for a marijuana sales price of around $7 or $8 a gram in its stand-alone pot stores - again to stay close to the price Ontario is envisions, which is $10 a gram.

Both provinces are aiming to undercut the price organized crime charges.

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Couche-Tard co-founder says it's a 'shame' Quebec won't even talk to them about sales

LAVAL, QUE.- Alimentation CoucheTard is still interested in selling marijuana, and its co-founder says he thinks provincial governments should stay out of selling this product.

Alain Bouchard, the executive chairperson of the Quebec-based chain of convenience stores, says Crown corporations getting involved in cannabis sales is a step backward after it becomes legal next year.

Couche-Tard would like to sell cannabis in some of the more than 2,000 stores it operates in Canada.

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It's been almost two full years since young Justin Trudeau and his Liberal party performed one of the most impressive revivals of a political party in Canadian history, regaining power from the Royal Canadian Harper Government and providing the country what was, in contrast, a progressive, marketing friendly face to the world. In addition, Young Justin has benefited from the stark contrast between his own public persona and that of the pustule of awfulness that has infested the American White House this year. For many progressives around the world, he has come not only to represent a kind of politics in direct opposition to his American counterpart and a signal of hope to ease the despair of those who see in Trump the moral, economic, and social failure that he represents.

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Special branch of SAQ would handle sale, distribution

Adding its two cents to the raging debate, the Parti Quebecois has opted for a strict, state-controlled marijuana distribution system, but would set the legal age to buy it at 18.

The PQ also wants to see some controls on home crops, saying an individual would be limited to two plants not four as the federal government has proposed. And the owner of a building would have the option of banning their tenants from growing and consuming it.

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Forget the private sector and the Societe des alcools du Quebec. A Montreal think-tank says the government department that oversees hospitals should manage pot sales.

To generate bigger profits, private vendors would target young people, increase marijuana potency and press governments to relax pot laws, as seen in Colorado and Washington, the Institut de recherche et d'informations socioeconomiques (IRIS) says in a study published Tuesday.

And opting for stores run by the liquor-store monopoly could open the door to alcohol and marijuana (a dangerous combination, they say) being sold side by side, and to pressure from the SAQ's only shareholder - Quebec's finance department - to boost profits without regard to detrimental health effects, the study says.

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Up to now, Montreal has largely been spared the worst of the fentanyl crisis that has taken such a horrible toll in Vancouver and certain other parts of Western Canada. But the city's luck is starting to run out. The extremely powerful synthetic opioid is increasingly being found in street drugs in this city. As its presence increases, the result will be sadly predictable: more fatal overdoses by users, many of them unaware of its presence or of its power.

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Re: "Police say they're not ready for pot-smoking drivers" (Montreal Gazette, Sept. 9)

The Quebec government has known for some time that the legalization of recreational marijuana was coming, and yet it finds itself with its back against the wall. It has launched a public consultation process, but when I went on the site, it seemed overly complex. This is not rocket science. Existing laws that deal with tobacco, alcohol and impaired driving should extend to marijuana - including age restrictions.

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