Ottawa 18-year-olds have for years gleefully evaded Ontario’s age requirement of 19 to buy alcohol by making a short trip across the Ottawa River to drink legally in Quebec.

Now that provincial age discrepancy appears likely to be replicated for pot smokers, too, with reports the Quebec government intends to set the legal age for buying marijuana at 18.

Ontario has already announced an age of 19 to buy or possess pot when it’s legalized by the federal government. That’s also Ontario’s legal drinking age.

Last month, senior ministers from both provinces meeting in Quebec City stressed the importance of “harmonizing” rules governing marijuana. But it doesn’t appear to be working out that way when it comes to age minimums.

Quebec has not announced its plans. But several sources, including the Montreal Gazette, report that — based on inside sources — Quebec will set the pot purchase age at 18, aligned with its legal drinking age. The Gazette also reported that the province will set up a Crown corporation that will make use of expertise at the Société des alcools du Québec to handle recreational marijuana sales.

In Ontario, the provincially run LCBO will be in charge of recreational marijuana sales, both at stand-alone stores and online.

What effect all this will have on cross-border pot shopping between Ottawa and Gatineau is anyone’s guess.

Will 18-year-olds in Ottawa travel to Gatineau to buy marijuana? Maybe, but several factors work against the development of a situation similar to what now happens with alcohol. It’s common for Ottawa 18-year-olds to head to Gatineau bars.

Quebec, for instance, could conceivably pass a law allowing only Quebec residents to buy cannabis at age 18, says Ottawa lawyer Trina Fraser, who specializes in cannabis business law. There has been general concern expressed about cannabis tourism between provinces, which could be triggered by differences in price, types of products and legal age of purchase, she said.

But even if 18-year-old Ontarians are allowed to buy pot in Quebec, they’ll have to find a place to smoke it.

That’s up to the province to determine. “Will you be able to use it in a motor vehicle? In a public place? Inside an establishment? Will there be (vape) lounges?” said Fraser.

That’s no known yet, but it’s unlikely Quebec will allow pot smoking in bars and restaurants. The Ontario government has announced that marijuana use will not be allowed in any public place.

Most likely, that 18-year-old from Ottawa will have to find a friend’s house in Gatineau to legally consume marijuana. But if he or she pockets the pot instead and brings it back to Ottawa, that could spell legal trouble. “If you’re only 18, obviously you have a problem as soon as you cross the border,” said Fraser. “You’re offside.”

If pot is sold only at government-run stores in Quebec, that could also be a disincentive to buy there, said Ottawa criminal defence lawyer Neil Weinstein. Government stores aren’t open late at night, like bars and depanneurs, he pointed out.

“I don’t know how many 18-year-olds will have the wherewithal to go over to Gatineau during business hours just to buy their weed.

“That sounds like a lot of complications for an 18-year-old pot smoker.”

Fraser says she is not surprised that Quebec apparently plans to adopt the same minimum age for buying pot and alcohol. The province would have a hard time justifying a higher age limit for cannabis when alcohol is a potentially more harmful substance, she said. That debate would be more politically difficult than the possibility of some cross-border pot shopping by 18-year-olds, she said.

“I guess they figure (the age difference) hasn’t been the end of the world for alcohol, so it won’t be for cannabis, either.”

jmiller@postmedia.com

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