Legalization Starts Today

Today Canada becomes the first country in the world to fully legalize cannabis and allow its legal sale.

For Quebec convenience stores however, this does not represent much change since the provincial government forbids them to sell any.

However, parts of the cannabis regulation will affect them, for example:

• it is now illegal to sell derivative products showing a cannabis leaf (t-shirts, lighters, etc.);

• it is now illegal to display cannabis accessories and to sell them to minors (bongs, pipes and others).

The new CAQ government will also most likely raise the minimum age for the purchase of cannabis from 18 to 21 years, which will of course apply to the selling of cannabis accessories.

These prohibitive, paternalistic, moralizing and harsh regulations emanating from Quebec against a Federal measure contrast with the more flexible approach of the neighboring province of Ontario, where the private sale of cannabis will soon be permitted.

And those who will enforce these laws are the tobacco inspectors… very much used to the retailer channel.

So beware!