Marijuana

On April 6, 2018, Calgary City Council voted 10-4 to ban the public consumption of recreational cannabis. In doing so, the City appeared to take a hybrid approach by incorporating aspects of both current alcohol and smoking bylaws.  Specifically, the City has put a prohibition on public consumption (pertaining to possible public intoxication), and incorporated…

This past weekend on March 24-25th, 2018, Quarry Park Lawyers Alexander Kooiman and Jonathan Ablett were presenters at Hempfest Edmonton as part of their ongoing Speakers Series.  Alex and Jon presented previously at Hempfest Calgary on September 30 – October 1, 2017 on the history of cannabis law in Canada to this point, the  …

On Thursday afternoon, the Alberta Government released its proposed draft legislation to implement its previously announced cannabis framework.  This follows a period of public consultation and will enter its first reading into the Legislature in the upcoming session.  Bill 26, titled “An Act to Control and Regulate Cannabis”, amends existing legislation governing liquor and gaming. …

Quarry Park Law presented at Calgary HempFest last weekend discussing Bill C-45/C-46 and some of the legal nuances surrounding the proposed legislation the weekend before Alberta announced its proposed provincial cannabis framework. The presentation by QPL lawyers Alexander Kooiman and Jonathan Ablett was well attended and generated a number of discussions.  Presentation attendees voiced a…

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…

The Liberals were elected in the fall of 2015 on a platform of legalizing recreational marijuana. A task force set up to look at the details of legalization published its report last November. In April, the Liberals unveiled a legislative package for legalization, and promised that a legal distribution system will be up and running by…

The Liberal government introduced Bill C-46, which includes new powers for police and harsher penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, in the House of Commons last month alongside their long-awaited plan to legalize marijuana for recreational use. The bill was expected to come up for second reading on Friday, May 19…

Currently, it is not illegal to operate a motor vehicle after you have consumed alcohol. It it is ONLY A CRIME if your blood alcohol content (BAC) exceeds the legal threshold of 0.08%. (some provinces have different administrative BAC warnings) Similarly, with the legalization of marijuana, it will not be illegal to drive if you…

On March 26, it was reported that the Federal Government has clarified its goal to legalize marijuana by July 1, 2018, with the proposed legislation to be announced within three weeks. Evidently, the legislation will broadly follow the recommendation of the federal task force chaired by Anne McLellan. It would appear that the federal government…