Plan for Legal Marijuana system in Canada

https://news.vice.com/story/canada-marijuana-task-force-recommends-retail-pot-sales-and-a-minimum-age-of-18

Interesting.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

• Allow for the public possession of up to 30 grams of marijuana.
• Permit Canadians to grow four of their own plants at home.
• Allow for retail sales and for indoor marijuana lounges.
• Require plain packaging for marijuana that lists the THC and CBD content, the name of the strain and producer, and a warning about the possible health risks.
• Ban most marijuana advertising, unless it will be seen only by adults.
• Fund a public education campaign about marijuana and the possible dangers.
• Allow the sale of edibles, as long as they are not deemed to be “appealing to children.”
• Discourage provinces from selling marijuana in stores that also sell tobacco or alcohol — “wherever possible.”
• Remove most criminal prohibitions for marijuana, limit prosecutions for less serious offences, and move to fines for breaking licensing or production rules.
• Push for “graduated” penalties for driving under the influence of marijuana, ranging from fines to criminal prosecution — but also invest more seriously in studying the link between THC and impairment on driving.
• Push for a competitive cultivation and distribution market that makes room for smaller growers, and encourages involvement of Indigenous communities.

That is a pretty solid list of recommendations IMO. I wonder what the reason for not selling weed along side liquor is?

Grow 4 plants you say? Don't mind if I do.

Ya or shit that contains weed and alcohol. Whats their reasons for those recommendations I wonder..
Pretty hard to be against most of their other recommendations. Sure hope they won't be morons and charge more than 5-10 a gram.

The ironic thing is worrying about weed dispensaries being too close to schools and such cuz IME as a teen getting booze was a major hassle which involed getting someone's older brother to bootleg but buying MJ was pretty easy just look for buddy the pusher out behind the gym or in the p-lot and you could score a lid in about 15 min. and from what I understand that has not changed one bit SO do these policy makers forget what it's like to go to H school?

the school councilors kid had the best weed where I grew up.

The ironic thing is worrying about weed dispensaries being too close to schools and such cuz IME as a teen getting booze was a major hassle which involed getting someone's older brother to bootleg but buying MJ was pretty easy just look for buddy the pusher out behind the gym or in the p-lot and you could score a lid in about 15 min. and from what I understand that has not changed one bit SO do these policy makers forget what it's like to go to H school?

Should be the same rules as alcohol. If there are no rules for alcohol, then I don't see why there need to be some for weed. Treat both the same.

I should add that I don't really care for weed, but applaud having the rules surrounding it modernized. Some peeps out there are going to get rich very quickly.

Why not stop prosecuting for MJ and then worry about how to market the stuff

because it is a dangerous drug….duh..

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cannabis-pot-weed-legal-1.3894284

Legislation to make pot legal will hit the House of Commons come spring, but the day when recreational marijuana becomes officially available to buy across the country could still be years away.

"I think one of the things we were struck by was how complex this transition actually is, and not only in terms of drafting legislation at the federal and provincial levels and putting in place all the infrastructure and training, but the psychological transition," former deputy prime minister Anne McLellan told CBC News Network's Power [HTML_REMOVED] Politics host Rosemary Barton.

"Going from something that has been prohibited for decades, to a world where it's a legalized product, sold in a regulated market — so the transition is going to be enormous," said McLellan, the chair of the federal government's cannabis task force.

The Department of Justice Canada will first have to embark on a widespread effort to change the Criminal Code and other related federal laws — that effort will kick off in the spring. But what that new law will look like and what kinds of challenges it will face as it moves through Parliament remain a mystery for now.

i have read that JT didn't actually want to legalize the weed. he didn't think he had a chance to win so he threw it out there and ooopsie….ended up winning.

That is a pretty solid list of recommendations IMO. I wonder what the reason for not selling weed along side liquor is?

Grow 4 plants you say? Don't mind if I do.

If you read the actual report, the reason that they're discouraging sales in Liquor markets is because: 1) people have expressed concerns about Provincial Governments monopolizing the sales of Marijuana and 2) 80% of people consume alcohol while only 10% of people smoke marijuana. Selling marijuana at a liquor store could theoretically increase the number of people exposed to marijuana and increase the rate of use vs. a model whereby people would have to go to a standalone dispensary or cafe. Imagine how many people, who would otherwise not go to a standalone dispensary, might impulse buy a joint off a rack in the checkout line at the liquor store (not that I see an issue with that, but if the goal is reducing usage, selling at liquor distributors isn't the way to achieve that).

I actually think, and have said here in the past, that using provincial liquor stores a sole distribution channel, as was floated during the election, is a bad plan. Their distribution model has the potential to push out the 'little guy' growers in favour of large scale grow operations that can more conveniently meet their supply needs. I fear that large scale grow operations may utilize fertilizers and pesticides on their products to maximize growth while my preference would be to have a selection of local/regional sources that minimize the use of chemicals. I also think that there is a potential for massive growth in our economy with the creation of new retail spaces vs. simply increasing existing liquor distributors revenues.

If you read the actual report, the reason that they're discouraging sales in Liquor markets is because: 1) people have expressed concerns about Provincial Governments monopolizing the sales of Marijuana and 2) 80% of people consume alcohol while only 10% of people smoke marijuana. Selling marijuana at a liquor store could theoretically increase the number of people exposed to marijuana and increase the rate of use vs. a model whereby people would have to go to a standalone dispensary or cafe. Imagine how many people, who would otherwise not go to a standalone dispensary, might impulse buy a joint off a rack in the checkout line at the liquor store (not that I see an issue with that, but if the goal is reducing usage, selling at liquor distributors isn't the way to achieve that).

I actually think, and have said here in the past, that using provincial liquor stores a sole distribution channel, as was floated during the election, is a bad plan. Their distribution model has the potential to push out the 'little guy' growers in favour of large scale grow operations that can more conveniently meet their supply needs. I fear that large scale grow operations may utilize fertilizers and pesticides on their products to maximize growth while my preference would be to have a selection of local/regional sources that minimize the use of chemicals. I also think that there is a potential for massive growth in our economy with the creation of new retail spaces vs. simply increasing existing liquor distributors revenues.

Read the report? Who has time for that? LOL

I agree, I don't want a government monopoly on pot but their reasoning just shows how hung up they still are on people actually smoking it. I don't see any effort to decrease usage of beer. We are adults, we can handle our own affairs thanks.

as a long time user , I think those are a great start . and as a non drinker and non smoker I totally agree about not selling it all in one location together .

Read the report? Who has time for that? LOL

I agree, I don't want a government monopoly on pot but their reasoning just shows how hung up they still are on people actually smoking it. I don't see any effort to decrease usage of beer. We are adults, we can handle our own affairs thanks.

Totally, I'd love to see it marketed as an alternative to alcohol.

Problem is, we've spend Billion of dollars and decades convincing people that Weed is a schedule 1 drug and you can't just turn around and say "Give'r" without all of those people you've convinced that Weed is the devil getting in a huff. Baby steps. Legalize it with a bunch of stupid regulations, then relax the regulations as people recognize that their fears were unfounded.

4 plants could yield a lot so the black (soon to be grey??) market is not going to be going away any time soon…

I wonder why they limit it though. Is there a limit to the volume of home brew you can make in a year.

4 plants could yield a lot so the black (soon to be grey??) market is not going to be going away any time soon…

I wonder why they limit it though. Is there a limit to the volume of home brew you can make in a year.

No, it is another sign that they are not really comfortable with it, although I think jbazzet has a point. We need baby steps so those that still oppose it don't get too worked up about the changes.

Limit the number of plants? Say hello to 8 foot plants. People will have them like hedges. LOL