Alberta Government releases proposal for Cannabis Framework

By Jonathan Ablett | October 4, 2017

In a live media conference this morning, the Alberta Government has announced its initial framework for the regulation of Cannabis within Alberta. This framework builds off of the federally-announced plan to remove certain possession, distribution, and sale offences from the Criminal Code.

Highlights from the Alberta announcement include the following:

The minimum age will be kept at 18;

Possession limits will mirror the federal bill of 30 grams in a public place, with no immediate plan to impose a limit on possession within a private place;

A possession limit of up to 4 plants in the private home also draws from the federal bill, however with the additional requirement that these must be grown indoors;

Licensed retailers will be able to sell up to 30g to an individual consumer, provided that no pharmaceuticals, alcohol, or tobacco is sold on the premises;

The proposal disallows possession entirely for youth – a limit of 0g. Youth would remain subject to criminal penalties with possession over 5g, per the federal legislation;

A ban on consumption in vehicles, and near schools, hospitals, and/or other areas frequented by youth (zoos, etc.), however, public consumption is otherwise not proposed to be prohibited (unlike Ontario for example, which limited consumption to the private home);

There is no immediate provision for the allowance or licensing of cannabis cafe’s or lounges, until the federal government has implemented its regulations relating to edibles;

There is no immediate provision for the allowance of recreational cannabis to be sold or distributed through provincially-licensed online retailers, until the government can be confident that purchasers/receivers are over 18.

The Province plans to regulate and enforce the rules through the existing AGLC (Alberta Gaming & Liquor Commission), and plans to use its existing centralized distribution infrastructure to control distribution within and import into the Province of Alberta.

These immediate plans will be presented for further input and consultation from the public before a final draft of proposed legislation will be introduced in the fall session of the legislature.

For its part, the federal standing committee on health voted yesterday to remove the previously proposed height limit of 100cm from bill C-45 and to introduce rules governing edibles within one year following the its passage. These changes are subject to approval of the House of Commons.

View the full framework here: alberta.ca