Canada Legalization and Regulation of Cannabis

Canada Legalization and Regulation of Cannabis

 

Current Marijuana Laws

 

Cannabis (marijuana) remains a Schedule II drug under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act, and, unless otherwise regulated for production and distribution for medical purposes, is subject to offenses under that Act. Possessing and selling marijuana for non-medical purposes is still illegal everywhere in Canada. 

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Changing Marijuana Laws

The legalization and strict regulation of cannabis (marijuana) a serious and complex matter that will take time.

There are public health and safety risks associated with marijuana use, including its effects on the mental development of young people and illicit profits that support criminal organizations. There may be further health risks from illegally supplied marijuana products that are untested and unregulated. The Government of Canada will design a system of strict production, distribution, and sales of marijuana, in order to

Better protect health and enhance public safety by regulating access to marijuana for non-medical purposes;
Make it less profitable for illicit drug dealers and organized crime groups to stay in the marijuana business; and
Keep it out of the hands of youth.

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Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation

The Task Force has completed its report on the design of a new system to legalize, strictly regulate and restrict access to cannabis. This advice will be considered by the Government of Canada as legislation is being developed.
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Recreational or Medical Marijuana

Recreational or Medical Marijuana Now Legal in These States

Ballot initiatives on legalizing recreational or medical marijuana in seven states won big Tuesday as voters weighed in on the controversial proposals.

Voters in four states Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and North Dakota voted to legalize medical marijuana, making medicinal use of the drug legal in more than half of the states.

Voters in three states California, Massachusetts, and Nevada voted to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Recreational pot smoking by those older than 21 is now legal in nine states and the District of Columbia.

A similar proposal in Arizona failed, and another in Maine was split 50-50, with 98 percent of precincts reporting. Supporters of the initiatives in the five states with recreational marijuana on the ballot argued that legalizing the drug would put more money in state coffers.

Opponents said marijuana use has detrimental health effects.

Marijuana remains illegal under federal law. The government lists it as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act.

With Tuesday’s results, here are the states where medical marijuana and recreational marijuana are legal

Medical Marijuana Thc Pills

Medical Marijuana Thc Pills 

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Simple bubble bag trick

  

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Nevada cracking door to marijuana tourism

Nevada cracking door to marijuana tourism

Starting early next year, tourists with a medical marijuana card from their home state can buy pot while visiting Las Vegas and other Nevada cities.

A handful of other states offer similar reciprocity, including Rhode Island and Maine, but Nevada is the first major tourist-destination state to honor other states' systems, industry experts say. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority estimates that nearly 40 million people visit Sin City annually.
"It is a city of recreation, the city that invented the $5,000 bottle of vodka," said Derek Peterson, CEO of Terra Tech, which has secured eight Nevada dispensary licenses. "It's the adult playground in the United States. That's Las Vegas' model."

The decision by state lawmakers to let tourists buy pot legally 

while visiting Nevada further opens the doors to marijuana tourism across the country. Colorado and Washington state already allow anyone to buy small amounts of pot, and at least one study has shown tourism interest in Colorado has skyrocketed since recreational sales began Jan. 1. Alaska and Oregon in the fall election legalized recreational marijuana sales and use, and Washington, D.C., legalized possession.
"I think it's going to be fantastic for the industry and the visitors," said Leslie Bocskor, a marijuana investor and founding chairman of the Nevada Cannabis Industry Association. "It's a step to treat this just a little more reasonably, to deal with it in a way that makes common sense."
Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have versions of medical marijuana programs, under which people with a doctor's recommendation can buy pot to relieve conditions ranging from chronic pain to glaucoma and HIV/AIDS.


Knowing exactly how many Americans have medical marijuana cards is difficult: Some states, such as California, lack a centralized database of users. Colorado maintains precise numbers, however, with more than 115,000 people possessing medical marijuana cards. Of those, 66% are men, the average age is 42, and 94% of users list severe pain as their reason for using marijuana, according to state statistics.
All of those people, however, are violating federal law. And it remains illegal to take marijuana outside the state in which it was bought. In Colorado, TSA security screeners don't specifically look for marijuana, but they will prompt flyers to throw it away if they find it in carry-on bags.


Nevada's law specifies that anyone who presents a medical marijuana card or recommendation will be allowed to buy pot, but lacks any sort of centralized tracking system to check the card's validity. Nevada this fall began issuing licenses to its first medical marijuana stores, which are expected to open sometime in the spring.
Industry workers say adults should be trusted to make their own decisions — after all, no one on the Vegas strip checks a central federal database before selling alcohol to people from other states.
"A lot of people who are traveling, they may not want to fly with their meds, so there's an attractiveness to the reciprocity," Peterson said. "I don't know it will drive traffic that much, but it's a darn good excuse."

Official Bob Marley Weed Will Be For Sale Next Year

The family of reggae superstar Bob Marley 

whose public embrace of marijuana made him synonymous with cannabis culture, has joined a private equity firm to launch the first global consumer marijuana brand.
Marley Natural products will begin appearing in shops located in countries and U.S. states where marijuana is legally sold in late 2015, the Marley family and Privateer Holdings announced Tuesday.
“If you were to try and pick one person in the history of the world associated with this product, it would be Bob Marley," Brendan Kennedy, CEO of Privateer Holdings, told The Huffington Post. “Everyone has a little Bob Marley on their playlist and that’s different than anything else out there in this market.”

The new marijuana company will have a suite of products 

that include heirloom Jamaican cannabis strains said to be similar to the ones Marley consumed. “Bob’s favorite strains were the strains that were prevalent in Jamaica historically like lambsbread, pineapple skunk, and some others … that he used to get from Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, in Jamaica,” Kennedy said.
Marley Natural also will feature cannabis-infused and hemp-infused lotions and balms, as as well as accessories for storage and consumption of marijuana.
Kennedy said that Marley Natural will feature recreational and medical marijuana products, depending on local laws, because of Marley’s deep beliefs that cannabis use is a natural and positive part of life that helped to produce “inner-peace and creativity” for the artist.
“Creative inspiration was everything for my father -- it was like breathing or life to him,” Marley’s daughter Cedella said in an interview for the brand’s launch. “Every time he smoked, he was inspired and an open mind was the open door for his creative inspiration. He thought the herb was actually a gift.”
Cedella Marley, along with Bob Marley’s son Rohan and wife Rita, are partners in the Marley Natural brand with Privateer.

Cannabis be true? Colorado pot sales fall

 

It appears that Colorado's booming pot industry has hit a bit of a bump.

Sales of marijuana for recreational and medical use fell in September for the first time since Colorado legalized it in January, according to tax data released this week.
 Colorado brought in $7.2 million in taxes and fees from recreational and medical marijuana sales in September. That's down from $7.7 million in August. Colorado's Department of Revenue only publishes tax data and not total retail sales of marijuana.

The dip is somewhat surprising considering that sales had been rising steadily since Colorado became the first state to permit the sale of recreational marijuana to anyone age 21 or older.