by Marijuana Moment | Oct 23, 2018 | Marijuana News
A Canadian member of Parliament openly consumes marijuana, something he says will be completely normal and not at all noteworthy soon in light of the country’s new legalization law that went into effect this week.
“Just as someone might have a glass of wine or a scotch on a Friday night, I would turn to my vaporizer,” MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith said in an interview with CBC news.
But it’s not all about getting high for fun and relaxation for the member of Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s party. He also consumes cannabis medicinally.
“I have Crohn’s, so sometimes I turn to it for that reason as well,” he said.
Within a matter of years, though, no one will care whether lawmakers toke up, Erskine-Smith believes.
“Five years from now, no one will be interested in this question because we’ll all recognize we’re responsible adults, and this is far less harmful than alcohol, far less harmful than tobacco,” he said. “And we should use it responsibly, yes, because there are potential harms.”
“Certainly Canadians are capable of doing this because we’ve been doing it for decades.”
On that point, Erskine-Smith acknowledged that he too has been consuming cannabis before prohibition officially lifted on Wednesday.
“It would be sort of silly for me to stop now, wouldn’t it?” he asked.
Trudeau himself previously admitted that he illegally smoked marijuana while serving in Parliament, but said this week that he has no intention of consuming cannabis now that it is legal.
https://massroots.wpengine.com/news/canadas-liquor-stores-will-heavily-outnumber-marijuana-stores-legalizations-launch/
See the original article published on Marijuana Moment below:
Canadian Lawmaker Vapes Marijuana And Doesn’t Care What Anyone Thinks
by Marijuana Moment | Oct 17, 2018 | Marijuana News
Canada’s new marijuana legalization law went into effect on Wednesday, and the U.S. federal government’s response so far has been mostly muted and dispassionate.
The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, for example, posted a few calm and friendly videos simply reminding people not to bring cannabis with them when crossing the border.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dop_b709PA
The Embassy also launched a frequently asked questions page, which responds to queries about how consuming marijuana or investing or working in the cannabis industry could impact admissibility to the U.S.
Perhaps of most interest to Canadians involved in cannabis businesses, the document reiterates and confirms that “a Canadian citizen working in or facilitating the proliferation of the legal marijuana industry in Canada, coming to the United States for reasons unrelated to the marijuana industry will generally be admissible to the United States.”
“However, if a traveler is found to be coming to the United States for reasons related to the marijuana industry, they may be deemed inadmissible,” it says.
While one of the questions—”Do you anticipate more American tourists crossing into Canada due to the change in legalization?—seems to acknowledge that many U.S. citizens support and would like to take advantage of Canada’s new marijuana laws, the Embassy doesn’t really provide a direct response.
The FAQ also covers issues related to visa applications.
“If you plan to use marijuana in the United States then you will be found ineligible for a visa based on intending to engage in unlawful activity in the United States,” it says. “It does not matter if you use doctor-prescribed marijuana. If you smoke cannabis in Canada, you may also be found ineligible…if a physician determines that you have a physical or mental disorder with associated harmful behavior – for example, impaired driving – or are a drug abuser or addict.”
When it comes to working or investing in the marijuana industry, the Embassy says it will only affect visas if the person is “found to be coming to the U.S. for reasons related to the cannabis industry.”
The page also says that while “legalization of cannabis in Canada will not have any impact on cannabis’s legality in the United States,” American officials “have discussed legalization of cannabis at various levels” with their Canadian counterparts.
Despite the relatively polite and level-headed response to the new legalization law of its neighbor to the north, the American government isn’t exactly excited about it.
A top U.S. Customs and Border Protection official, for example, said that Canada’s move to grant pardons for past marijuana offenses wouldn’t necessarily shield those individuals from being denied entry into the U.S.
It remains to be seen how President Trump himself, key White House staffers or Department of Justice officials will respond to Canada’s legalization of marijuana if asked about it publicly.
Marijuana Stores Will Be Hard To Find For Most Canadians On Day One Of Legalization
See the original article published on Marijuana Moment below:
Trump Administration Has Calm Response To Canadian Marijuana Legalization
by Marijuana Moment | Oct 11, 2018 | Marijuana News
In case you missed it, Canada’s legal marijuana system goes into effect next week. But new data reveals that access to liquor stores is going to be far greater than planned cannabis store—at least for the time being.
Statistics Canada, a government agency, released the report, which compares the prevalence of liquor stores and planned cannabis stores in each Canadian province, on Wednesday. The team behind the report notes that information about pending private or government-run marijuana shops is incomplete—excepting online retailers, for example.
“Using the agency’s geographic databases, the location of each Canadian household is identified, and the distance from that location to the nearest legal retail outlet is calculated. Averages of these distances are then calculated to determine how generally accessible these products are to Canadians.”
The top-level takeaway is pretty straightforward. Ninety percent of Canadians currently live within 10km (or about six miles) of a liquor store. Only 35 percent of the Canadian population lives within the same distance of a planned cannabis store. Visualized, here’s a look at the access to cannabis and liquor stores based on population density in each province:
Access to liquor stores by province
Population of Canadians with access to a liquor store based on distance.
| 1 km |
2 km |
5 km |
10 km |
More than 10 km |
|
| Canada |
11,362,355 |
21,277,831 |
28,876,635 |
31,711,644 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador |
84,776 |
158,242 |
265,484 |
321,357 |
| Prince Edward Island |
20,498 |
38,328 |
77,954 |
107,592 |
| Nova Scotia |
207,360 |
382,390 |
588,728 |
738,101 |
| New Brunswick |
112,467 |
229,098 |
419,581 |
542,312 |
| Quebec |
2,360,006 |
4,650,155 |
6,499,149 |
7,290,334 |
| Ontario |
3,460,906 |
7,835,317 |
11,587,894 |
12,770,424 |
| Manitoba |
349,046 |
758,067 |
913,421 |
977,472 |
| Saskatchewan |
249,628 |
539,875 |
746,822 |
793,642 |
| Alberta |
2,591,997 |
3,336,786 |
3,554,164 |
3,704,638 |
| British Columbia |
1,908,747 |
3,323,470 |
4,168,425 |
4,402,666 |
| Yukon |
4,407 |
8,264 |
23,824 |
26,294 |
| Northwest Territories |
9,326 |
14,648 |
23,449 |
29,072 |
| Nunavut |
3,191 |
3,191 |
7,740 |
7,740 |
Access to planned cannabis stores by province
Population of Canadians with access to a planned cannabis store based on distance.
| 1 km |
2 km |
5 km |
10 km |
More than 10 km |
|
| Canada |
1,440,702 |
3,797,855 |
8,757,433 |
12,194,999 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador |
51,424 |
141,076 |
274,922 |
336,714 |
| Prince Edward Island |
6,907 |
29,616 |
59,576 |
82,626 |
| Nova Scotia |
43,792 |
135,644 |
363,855 |
512,091 |
| New Brunswick |
34,833 |
97,642 |
290,802 |
414,181 |
| Quebec |
171,052 |
572,007 |
1,789,784 |
3,296,701 |
| Ontario |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Manitoba |
72,366 |
261,485 |
747,866 |
826,490 |
| Saskatchewan |
117,606 |
316,339 |
684,128 |
727,937 |
| Alberta |
624,382 |
1,394,464 |
2,229,038 |
2,593,820 |
| British Columbia |
317,523 |
846,977 |
2,302,059 |
3,381,659 |
| Yukon |
817 |
2,605 |
15,403 |
22,780 |
| Northwest Territories |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Nunavut |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
“Canadians have remarkably good access to liquor stores all across the country with 90 percent living within 10 kilometers of a store,” the report states. “Not surprisingly, their access to cannabis stores immediately after legalization on October 17, 2018 is likely to be much more restricted with only 35 percent of the population dwelling within 10 kilometers of a store.”
“It is emphasized this is a preliminary estimate based on less-than-full information about the number of stores expected to open and their locations. Cannabis accessibility will undoubtedly increase substantially in 2019 and 2020.”
For a comprehensive breakdown on the differences in marijuana legalization implementation for each province, check out this Marijuana Moment analysis.
https://massroots.wpengine.com/news/marijuana-stores-will-hard-find-canadians-day-one-legalization/
See the original article published on Marijuana Moment below:
Canada’s Liquor Stores Will Heavily Outnumber Marijuana Stores On Legalization’s Launch