On Jun. 27th, Health Canada announced new regulations in support of the Cannabis Act, which received Royal Assent last week and is scheduled to come into effect on Oct. 17, 2018.
As always, the government says that one of its top priorities is protecting the health and safety of Canadians and the regulations will cover both cannabis and industrial hemp.
In its announcement Health Canada detailed that the regulations are built on the best practices rules of licensed producers and mentions the timeline of the public consultations over the past few years that helped get us to this point. This includes the one conducted by the Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation back in 2016 which drew almost 30,000 responses from the public and the government’s own consultation in 2017 which received just over 3500 responses.
As federal Minister of Health Ginette Petitpas Taylor said,
“We’ve taken a public health approach to the legalization and strict regulation of cannabis to ensure that proper precautions are in place to protect Canadians, especially youth. The Cannabis Act and its regulations provide strict national standards and oversight for the production, distribution and sale of legal, quality-controlled cannabis, which will help protect public health and safety.”
According to Health Canada’s press release, “the regulations announced today will be published in the Canada Gazette, Part II, on July 11, 2018, and are available upon request from Health Canada.”
Initial takes from the Cannabis Regulation announcement today – mostly very positive. Trafficking charges not an automatic bar to licensing, outdoor allowed, genetic pathway appears to be easy, hemp for CBD allowed, one owner can operate multiple micros (co-ops!). #CannabisAct
— KirkTousaw (@KirkTousaw) June 27, 2018
At least one major licensed producer welcomed Health Canada’s approach, particularly the micro-license categories for cultivators and processors. At the same time, Canopy Growth said that Health Canada’s security requirements for outdoor cultivation will make large-scale outdoor growing very difficult and doesn’t see it being viable for non-hemp production.
No THC limits for flower
One government official who was involved in updating reporters on Health Canada’s announcement told CBC, “There are significant varieties of cannabis, some with high levels of THC. This is consistent with the medical regulations that exist today. There is not a hard cap on the potency of dried cannabis”.
This is an effort to fight the black market, but there are THC limits for practically every other cannabis product, including cannabis oils.
Featured image courtesy of Business in Vancouver.
Sources
Newswire: Health Canada announces regulations to support the Cannabis Act.