Pubdate: Tue, 22 Aug 2017
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.montrealgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Referenced: https://encadrementcannabis.gouv.qc.ca/en/

PUBLIC HEARINGS SEEK INPUT ON REGULATING LEGAL MARIJUANA

The Quebec government wants to hear from you about how legal marijuana
should be regulated in this province.

Quebec Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois announced Monday that
public hearings will be scheduled throughout the province beginning
Tuesday and continuing until Sept. 12.

In a statement made public Monday, the government says the hearings
will "allow citizens to have their say, hear their opinions on what
decisions should be taken and identify the necessary measures to
ensure the protection of their health and safety."

An online forum has also been established to allow those interested to
fill out a questionnaire, at www.encadrementcannabis.gouv.qc.ca .

Apart from hearings in Quebec City and Montreal, public forums have
also been scheduled to take place in several regional centres,
including Rimouski, Saguenay, Trois-Rivieres, Granby and Gatineau.

The hearings come 11 months before the legalization of cannabis is
expected to go into effect across Canada on July 1, 2018.

While the federal government has established a minimum age for
consumption and a maximum amount for legal possession of marijuana,
the provinces have the right to establish their own standards within
those guidelines.

Associations representing Quebec's psychologists and emergency room
physicians have already warned that a minimum age of 18 is, in their
professional opinion, too low, given the human brain's continued
development past that age.

Concerns have been raised over the issue of driving while under the
influence of marijuana and the most reliable methods law enforcement
agencies can use to determine whether someone is driving while
impaired by the drug.

Even the location of where the drug will be sold once legalized is
under dispute.

The Couillard government hopes to table legislation providing a
regulatory framework for legal marijuana in Quebec by this autumn.
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MAP posted-by: Matt