Oct. 17, 2018: That is the day the federal government in Canada legalized the recreational use of cannabis. It’s also the day Canada made history by becoming the first advanced industrialized nation and the first G7 country to legalize cannabis, and only the second nation in the world (after Uruguay) to take this step.
Oct. 17, 2018: That is the day the federal government in Canada legalized the recreational use of cannabis. It’s also the day Canada made history by becoming the first advanced industrialized nation and the first G7 country to legalize cannabis, and only the second nation in the world (after Uruguay) to take this step.
Turn back the clock to 1923, when cannabis Indica, or hashish, was added to the Act to Prohibit the Improper Use of Opium and Other Drugs, introduced during the reign of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. At that time, few Canadians had even heard of cannabis; however, in 1922, cannabis had been prohibited in 10 U.S. states as well. The first possession offences on record didn’t occur until 1937 and between the early 1920s and 1965, there were only 270 possession offences reported.
The 1960s saw a boom in marijuana use and criminal possession offences. In the late ’60s, the federal government formed Le Dain Commission, a royal commission to study the use of cannabis. The 1972 report stated that cannabis prohibition was costly to individuals and the country (at the time the maximum penalty for a first offence for possessing cannabis was six months in prison and a $1,000 fine), and as a result, the report recommended cannabis possession be decriminalized. This was decades before it actually happened.
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In 1999, legal access to dried cannabis was first allowed in this country through discretionary exemptions granted by the minister of health for specific purposes. Several court challenges resulted. A year later, the Ontario Court of Appeal decided cannabis prohibition was unconstitutional since it did not allow an exemption for medical use. Health Canada responded by introducing the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR), which regulated access to cannabis for licensed patients. This meant that Canadian patients, with the support of a medical practitioner, could obtain an authorization to possess dried cannabis for their personal use, and permitted approved participants to grow it themselves or purchase plants directly through Health Canada.
Eventually, MMAR evolved into the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR), which established a regulatory framework for licensing producers who would grow, distribute and sell cannabis to authorized individuals in need of medical cannabis. Under MMPR, health-care practitioners were able to sign a medical document, similar to a prescription, which allowed patients to purchase up to their prescribed recommended amount, directly from a producer licensed with MMPR.
In 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada, in a final appeal decision of a challenge dated prior to MMAR and MMPR, ruled that restricting legal access only to dried forms of cannabis violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The federal minister of health granted discretionary exemptions; thereby allowing MMPR licensed producers to produce and sell cannabis oil and fresh cannabis buds and leaves. In 2016, in a separate court challenge, the Federal Court of Canada declared the MMPR invalid for violating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as MMPR did not provide individuals with reasonable access to cannabis for medical purposes. The Canadian government then implemented the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) in August 2016.
Enter Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The PM and his Liberal Party of Canada criticized the prohibition and criminalization of cannabis and vowed to legalize recreational cannabis. In 2015, Trudeau announced that his party intended to legalize recreational cannabis use and regulate its sale. A year later, the Task Force on Marijuana Regulation was created.
Prime Minister Trudeau introduced the Cannabis Act in April 2017, thereby paving the way to the legislation of the recreational use of cannabis in Canada. The act included many restrictions protecting the public, including restricting use to a minimum age of 18, setting a limit for individual possession, limiting the number of plants to four at one metre in height, restrictions on packaging and labelling of cannabis products, including requirements for child and tamper-proofing, displaying health warnings and detailing the THC/CBD content on the label.
On Oct. 17, 2018, the Canadian Parliament passed Bill C-45, namely the Cannabis Act, thereby legalizing recreational cannabis use for Canadians 18 years and older.
Disclaimer: The content in this article is for general information only and is not intended as medical advice or to be used as a recommendation for any specific medication. Always consult your doctor before taking any new medication, supplements or using cannabis of any type.
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