The provincial government has taken its latest step towards becoming the most restrictive province when it comes to using legal cannabis.
While the federal government plans to legalize . . .
edibles later this year, last week, the Quebec government announced that it intends to restrict the sale of most types of edible cannabis products.
The government has decided to take the Helen Lovejoy approach from the popular sitcom The Simpsons: “Won’t somebody please think of the children?!”
Edibles like gummies, brownies and other sweets will be restricted by the province out of the fear that these products may be appealing to children.
While many “sweets” will be banned, the government will still allow cannabis infused butter to be sold, forcing Quebecers into the kitchen if they want to get stoned with food.
Take a walk down the aisles of the local SAQ or depanneur and you’ll see plenty of brightly coloured, sweet-tasting alcoholic beverages that – gasp – might be appealing to children.
For goodness sakes, people are drinking lemon- and orange-flavoured versions of Bud Light, so let’s not zero in on things that are “sweet” because of their appeal to children. We seem to be okay with it if it’s alcohol related.
This is the same government that had to kill plans to ban cannabis smoking in public places like parks because, as even the government itself conceded, they were unenforceable.
Not only that, but the CAQ showed just how many “children” it thinks are in the province by setting the legal age to consume cannabis at 21 – the oldest in the country.
Eating cannabis is generally agreed to be a much healthier way to consume it than smoking.
Quebec has argued that in order to reach its public health and safety objectives, it needs to impose harsher rules than those of its federal counterpart.
This is the same province that has cut its smoking rate almost in half since 1999 – from 30.3 per cent to 15.7 per cent in 2017.
Now, the government risks undoing some of that work by forcing cannabis users to continue to use smoking as the most convenient method to consume cannabis.
Maybe its time the Quebec government takes a similar approach to cannabis as it does with alcohol. After all, if the approach works with one intoxicant, why not another?
Chris Lowrey
