Home Newsstand A Serious Look At Legalizing The Use Of Cannabis In Canada

By John Stevenson - Royal Seed Bank

Over the years, various countries and cultures have been advocating the legalizing of cannabis in their countries. Canada has taken the first step to bring about a controlled acceptance of the use of marijuana under some circumstances and at the same time ensure that the vulnerable sections of society are kept out of harm’s way. Thus with the introduction of the Cannabis Act, it would be possible to buy the substance under some very controlled situations.

When something as dual-natured as the use of marijuana is being contemplated, it is but natural that sufficient control is exercised so that the susceptible sections of the society are kept protected. More importantly, as seen from the use of the more acceptable alcohol, there must be steps in place to keep people and its use in the correct manner.

Restricted approach

Just like the use of alcohol, marijuana can affect the thinking of people and in far intense manners than the simple use of alcohol. Thus the new legislation aims at keeping the very young from its use and for good reason too. People who do not have the maturity needed to make informed decisions should not be allowed to access cannabis. The proposal is to keep those folks below the age of 18 from having access to marijuana.

More than the legal age, those younger than the 18 years are not objective enough in their actions and thoughts to provide the complete unfettered access to cannabis. It is also noticed that the very young tend to be greatly influenced by peer pressure to take to activities like smoking and drinking. The use of cannabis should be such that it must be considered to be still more potentially harmful than alcohol and tobacco.

Of particular note must be the penalty being proposed for providing those under 18 years with cannabis and for using an underage person to commit cannabis related crime. There would be a 14 years jail term and a zero-tolerance policy to the offenders.

Controlled access

Recognizing the need to be careful as to how freely it is possible to have cannabis, there are some proposed controls for the possession of the substance.

The maximum amount of the cannabis in the non-dried form that a person can possess is 30 grams.

Individuals can share up to 30g between adults of legal age.

The purchase can be done only in those provinces that permit the legal use of the cannabis.

It is legal to grow cannabis plants and with a maximum limit of 4 plants per household.

The cannabis may be used as additives to other food as long as organic solvents are not used in the processes.

When using seeds to grow the plants and when using the cannabis to food substances, it is important to use a licensed seed bank provider that ship in Canada to purchase the necessary supplies. In the territories that do not allow the legal use of the marijuana, folks can use the licensed online purchase sites to make a purchase but strictly for personal use.

Strict regulations

Canada is a federal country with the federal, provincial and territorial governments sharing the law enforcing duties. Thus there are instances when each of the categories of governments would override the others. There is going to be a strict enforcement of the Cannabis Act and issues that relate to the enforcement of the laws relating to the use and procession of cannabis would be a zero-tolerance approach.

Every step towards the process of growing and selling the marijuana by seed bank provider that ship in Canada would be regulated strictly. Any kind of transgressions is going to be dealt with in a stern manner.

Handing past transgressions

There have been pressure groups that insist on taking a lenient view of those transgressions that involved the use of cannabis in the past. The argument that once the use of marijuana is made legal, the offenses that took effect in the past would be permitted in the new dispensation. Hence they are no longer a transgression.

The argument is that if a general amnesty is not provided to those held in prisons for the use of marijuana, they would be incarcerated on the basis of outdated laws and regulations. A progressive country like Canada should not be seen to be ruled by archaic laws at best.

The deterrent

In any progressive society, there must be strong deterrents to prevent the abuse of prevalent laws. The issue of abuse of the Cannabis Act must be handled just right as there is going to be strong undercurrents that it would set off in the communities of the country. But even with the strictest of law enforcement, there is going to be instances when the rule of law would be challenged and sufficient safeguards must be written into the first draft.

There must be strong efforts to correct the aberrant souls as there are facilities for those adversely affected by the use of legal cannabis. A forward-thinking community would not wait for acts to be committed before legislation and the control of actions under the influence of the substance should be stressed from the very first sale of the substance.

Conclusion

It must be stressed that no amount of legislation is going to prevent crimes being committed under the influence of the use of cannabis. There must be a strong deterrent from the very onset of use of legal cannabis and this should be just the start. Like the controlled use of alcohol and tobacco, cannabis can be a revenue earner for the governments that legalize it and the money so collected must be used for the assistance of those adversely affected by the Cannabis Act.

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John Stevenson is a pioneer in the industry of the cannabis and has grown over 100 different marijuana strains in his career. He launched in 2015 the project Royal Seed Bank, a platform that compares over 170 strains to permit us, all cannabis lover to pay the best price on the web from reputable seed bank providers.

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