Canada legalization of cannabis

Canada+legalization+of+cannabis

Maria Pena, Clara Fiset, and Rosalie Dutil

The Canadians are concerned about how cannabis is going to become legal on July 2018. They are scared that the government may be on the wrong track.

Instead of decriminalizing marijuana by taking it off the list of illegal substances in Canada, the government has chosen to rewrite other laws over the existing ones.

Public hearing across Canada people express concerns. Emery’s, who are part of the cannabis culture, attracted our attention with their smart and knowledgeable facts.

Jodie Emery feels concern about people in prison with drug related charges. «Children can see their parents in prison and they don’t know why. It affects their minds, they think that prison is bad but their parents aren’t.» she said.

By legalizing marijuana, the Canadian government is putting laws over laws. Instead of taking off the jail time of the prisoners that were arrested because of pot, they put new laws that contradict with the older ones.

The new laws are making the system heavier than it was before. It makes more people go to jail because of the extra requirements, though people know that they are not solving marijuana problems with prison. Marijuana consuption and incidental possessions are going to be removed from the Criminal Code. New and stronger laws are also going to be created to punish more severly those who provide cannabis to minors, those who operate a vehicle while on drugs and those who sell it outside of the new legal setup.

 

A lot of issues yet to solve.

The government still doesn’t know the legal age to consume cannabis, it could be at the age of 18 or 21, just like in the US. It also may be different ages in each province and territory in Canada, since it is a provincial decision.

Cannabis little artisans are completely forgotten by the government, but they could be the ones to have the responsibility of growing and distributing marijuana. They are the ones with experience and knowledge about the plant.

Police don’t know how to recognize an intoxicated person and the appropriate limit of the cannabis consumation to be able to take decisions, like car driving. They can’t compare it to the alcohol limit that is of .08.

Everyone knows that the black market is still going on for marijuana users, like the minors and people who want to use a big variety of drugs.

Also Canadian senators need to approve the federal law, and they believe they will never meet the released deadline announced by the Trudeau administration.

All these make one doubt that consumers will be able to buy and consume pot on Canada day.

 

Writted by: Maria Pena, Clara Fiset and Rosalie Dutil; Edited by: Annie Létourneau and Juliette Riverin