Addressing unanswered questions about cannabis legalization
The government has announced a legalization date for cannabis — but don't light up just yet.
As Oct. 17 nears, there are still regulatory wrinkles to iron out and questions to answer.
Some of the rules are clear: You can purchase only from a federally licensed producer, you can only possess up to 30 grams of dried cannabis, you're only allowed to grow up to four plants at home. But other details haven't firmed up yet.
Provinces like Quebec and Manitoba have asked the federal government for the right to ban home growing. Will they impose different rules?
When the prohibition on the drug lifts, what will happen to Canadians who have a criminal record because of cannabis convictions?
How can Canadians easily cross the border into U.S. states, where marijuana is still illegal?
The House asked MP Bill Blair, the government's point man on the two pieces of cannabis legislation, to shed some light on some of these issues.
Amnesty:
The federal government has said it's not currently looking at retroactive pardons for people with marijuana charges.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this week there was no point in talking about retroactive pardons until after the drug becomes legal.
Blair agreed.
"I think that it's an important conversation this country can only have after we've repealed and replaced this law," he said.
The former police chief also said he was in favour of implementing amnesty at some point.
Home cultivation:
Quebec, Manitoba and Nunavut have each asked for the right to ban home cultivation in their jurisdictions, but the House of Commons rejected a Senate amendment that dealt with provinces' rights to regulate cannabis.
Blair said if provinces choose to pass their own legislation, both the federal and provincial laws would apply.
The federal law says it's an offence to have more than four plants, he said, but if the provinces pass a law saying you can't have any, that still falls under the 'four plants or less' standard.
"If you prohibit, you can't regulate," he said.
And if court challenges come, he said, the government is ready.
"It's available to Canadians to challenge any law — provincial or federal."
Crossing the border:
Despite cannabis becoming legal in Canada, it will still be a serious criminal offence to bring marijuana across the border into the U.S.
Blair's advice to Canadians is to be smart, and to avoid doing anything that could arouse a border guard's suspicion.
"If somebody is going to the border, I think it would be really stupid to have the strong smell of cannabis in your car," he said.
While the border officers could ask Canadians to submit to secondary searches, Blair said it's important to be honest.
"I'm not going to ever tell anybody to lie to the customs people."
Police enforcement:
Police will still be expected to uphold the law until Oct. 17, Blair said.
Lawyers and judges also will have to use their discretion when it comes to dealing with cannabis-related charges between now and the legalization date, but he said he strongly encourages people to continue to obey the current law until the law changes.
"Until the law is repealed and replaced, the rule of law still prevails," he said.
Blair added he's concerned about people opening up illegal dispensaries, and cautioned that police will be cracking down on those businesses.
"I'm hopeful that we won't see that proliferation."