The Quebec government wants to hear from you about how legal marijuana should be regulated in this province.
Quebec public health minister Lucie Charlebois announced Monday that public hearings will be scheduled throughout the province beginning Tuesday and continuing until Sept. 12.
In a statement made public Monday, the government says the hearings will “allow citizens to have their say, hear their opinions on what decisions should be taken and identify the necessary measures to ensure the protection of their health and safety.”
An online forum has also been established to allow those interested to fill out a questionnaire, at encadrementcannabis.gouv.qc.ca.
Apart from hearings in Quebec City and Montreal, public forums have also been scheduled to take place in several regional centres, including Rimouski, Saguenay, Trois-Rivières, Granby and Gatineau.
The hearings come 11 months before the legalization of cannabis is expected to go into effect across Canada on July 1, 2018.
While the federal government has established a minimum age for consumption and a maximum amount for legal possession of marijuana, the provinces have the right to establish their own standards within those guidelines.
Associations representing Quebec’s psychologists and emergency room physicians have already warned that a minimum age of 18 is, in their professional opinion, too low, given the human brain’s continued development past that age. Concerns have been raised over the issue of driving while under the influence of marijuana and the most reliable methods law enforcement agencies can use to determine whether someone is driving while impaired by the drug.
Even the location of where the drug will be sold once legalized is under dispute.
The Couillard government hopes to table legislation providing a regulatory framework for legal marijuana in Quebec by this autumn.
Quebec public health minister Lucie Charlebois announced Monday that public hearings will be scheduled throughout the province beginning Tuesday and continuing until Sept. 12.
In a statement made public Monday, the government says the hearings will “allow citizens to have their say, hear their opinions on what decisions should be taken and identify the necessary measures to ensure the protection of their health and safety.”
An online forum has also been established to allow those interested to fill out a questionnaire, at encadrementcannabis.gouv.qc.ca.
Apart from hearings in Quebec City and Montreal, public forums have also been scheduled to take place in several regional centres, including Rimouski, Saguenay, Trois-Rivières, Granby and Gatineau.
While the federal government has established a minimum age for consumption and a maximum amount for legal possession of marijuana, the provinces have the right to establish their own standards within those guidelines.
Associations representing Quebec’s psychologists and emergency room physicians have already warned that a minimum age of 18 is, in their professional opinion, too low, given the human brain’s continued development past that age. Concerns have been raised over the issue of driving while under the influence of marijuana and the most reliable methods law enforcement agencies can use to determine whether someone is driving while impaired by the drug.
Even the location of where the drug will be sold once legalized is under dispute.
The Couillard government hopes to table legislation providing a regulatory framework for legal marijuana in Quebec by this autumn.
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