Canabis legalization still not a reality: two people hold a modified design of the Canadian flag with a canabis leaf in place of the maple leaf during the "420 Toronto" rally on April 20, 2016. (CP/Mark Blinch)

Cannabis legalization stalled in the Senate

Cannabis legalization was to be a landmark change in Canadian society on this upcoming Canada Day.

It was one of the policies of the now-ruling Liberal government during the 2015 federal election campaign.

The holiday will come and go, however, without the ability for Canadians to consume various cannabis products, medicinal or recreational, legally, as the final step is stuck in the Senate.

The Red Chamber as it’s known, is often described as the scene of sober second thought.

And among the second thoughts on Bill C-45, the Senate proposed changes that are not going over well with parliament.

“Control and legalize cannabis”

Of the 46 proposed amendments to the bill, one of the challenges is over personal cultivation. Bill C-45 allowed Canadians to grow four plants of their own.

The Senate, however, wanted to put a halt to this in keeping with the wishes of the provinces of Manitoba and Quebec and the northern territory of Nunavut.

Cannabis seedlings at the new Aurora Cannabis facility in Montreal on November 24, 2017. (CP/Ryan Remiorz)

The Canadian government responded, saying that it “respectfully disagrees”.

“Critically important to permit personal cultivation”

While provinces and the three northern territories already have the power to restrict personal cultivation  the federal government stated that, “it is critically important to permit personal cultivation in order to support the government’s objective of displacing the illegal market.”

The Senate also proposed a registry be created of the people working in the new industry and the shareholders in cannabis companies. The federal government does not support this request.

With less than two weeks left in this Senate session, the soonest cannabis could be legally available is sometime in September 2018.

This appears to be what growers, producers and law enforcement are planning for.

Mark Holland, the parliamentary secretary for the minister of public safety was quoted in an interview with Global News, saying that “the government remains on track with its timeline to legalize marijuana and expects to have a framework in place to let Canadians buy it legally across the country before summer wraps up”.

“We’re working closely with the Senate and we feel confident, at this time, in that timeline of end of summer that we’re going to see a regime that will control and legalize cannabis,” Holland said.

The federal government established basic elements of the new canabis law and provinces are free to decide how and where the products will be sold.

Most medical cannabis will be distributed through pharmacies, and the recreational products will be available in independent shops or dispensaries in some provinces or in the regulated alcohol outlets in other provinces.

The overriding proviso for distribution is that the product be marketed in plain packaging.

“I understand that folks are going to be perturbed by that because it is  going to limit how they can sell to young people or be attractive to young people, but that’s the very point of what we’re doing.” Holland said.

“We’re standardizing the packaging. We’re making sure that it isn’t attractive to young people. We’re making sure the warnings are present there, and that they can’t use marketing as a tool in the way that tobacco has.”

Meanwhile, during the back and forth on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, 17 pot shops and dispensaries are unsure of their legal status and have been warned about shutdowns by police.

And all the while, the major cannabis producers, Canopy Growth, Aurora, and Aphria, for example, continue to attract investors.

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