Is Weed Legal Across Canada?

Under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act Cannabis is listed as a schedule II drug. Possessing and selling Cannabis for non-medical purposes is still illegal everywhere in Canada. Storefront operations that sell cannabis are not licensed by Health Canada under the current law and are illegal. These “dispensaries” or “compassion clubs” receive their supply from illegal growers and sell products that are both untested and unregulated.

Until strict regulations are put in effect, law enforcement will continue to police the possession and distribution of cannabis. Despite all of this, a CBC news report has indicated that the government plans to legalize the recreational use of marijuana by July of 2018. Many of the forty Licensed Producers of marijuana are ramping up their facilities in anticipation of being able to sell to all Canadians regardless of whether or not they have a medical prescription.

The laws regarding the selling of Marijuana will be dealt with on a provincial.  In Ontario, the union that represents the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) has pushed for marijuana sales through the government liquor monopoly. Ontario’s premier Kathleen Wynne has said that the provincial government has not yet decided who will be legally able to sell marijuana but has indicated that the LCBO would make sense.

A July 2016 report shows that Cannabis arrests account for 79% of youth drug crime, which is a decline of 19% in 2014. These decreases are most evident in Ontario (-16%) and British Columbia (-17%). The only province where there has been an increase is Nunavut (9%). The only province whose rates have remained the same is Prince Edward Island.

Of the 96,000 Controlled Drugs and Substances Act offenses in 2015, 49,577 (51%) were related to the trafficking, distribution and possession of cannabis-related substances. In terms of marijuana possession, the most lenient city for enforcing the laws is Halifax, where authorities lay criminal charges in only two out of ten instances. By contrast, the strictest city is Saskatoon, where eight out of ten people are formally charged.  Currently, the government of Canada imposes mandatory jail sentences for:

-Importing/Exporting (1 year)

-Possession for the purpose of exporting (1 year)

-Production of 6-200 plants (1 year)

-Production of 201-500 plants (1 year)

-Production of over 500 plants (2 years)

At present time, Trafficking and Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking only have mandatory jail sentences of 1-2 years when there are aggravating factors.

The aggravating factors for trafficking are divided into two categories:

A: organized crime, violence or threat of violence, use or threat of use of weapons, prior drug offender within the last ten years, using authority or position to access restricted areas to commit the offense.

B: in or near a school or area normally frequented by underage persons, in a prison, using the services of a person under the age of 18, selling to a youth.