Pubdate: Wed, 22 Nov 2017
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Tonda MacCharles
Page: A8
Referenced: http://mapinc.org/url/TPdVfU8M

OTTAWA RELEASES PROPOSED RULES FOR POT SALES

New requirements will be subject to a 60-day period allowing public
feedback

OTTAWA- The federal government has released a raft of proposed new
rules for legalized marijuana that would require mandatory health
warnings and childproof packaging, security screening for pot
executives and limits on the amount of cannabis in each legal joint or
vial of cannabis oil sold.

The Liberal government wants to create a range of licences for
largescale and smaller "craft" cannabis cultivators, as well as
separate licences for large and small cannabis processors.

Ottawa would establish a Cannabis Tracking System to follow the
seed-to-sale supply of cannabis in the production and sale chain in an
effort to prevent the diversion of illegal pot into the legal market,
or the shifting of pot produced legally into the black market for
sale, according to senior officials who briefed reporters.

Unveiled late Tuesday by Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor and
parliamentary justice secretary Bill Blair, the proposed regulations
are outlined in a 69-page consultation paper, subject to a 60-day
period for public comments.

The government is not proposing to regulate the potency of THC or CBD,
the active ingredient in legalized products, but will limit the amount
of cannabis per unit. So in rolled cigarettes or vaping products,
there would only be 1 gram of cannabis per unit. In cannabis oil or
ingestible products, the limit is set at 10 mg per unit or per vial of
cannabis oil.

Edible products are not yet legal, and officials said the framework to
allow those is expected to be ready for July 2019.

Officials said the strength of THC in the natural plant product
averages in the 20 to high-20 per cent range, and rarely up to 30 per
cent. That changes for resin products, where some products might have
up to 70 or 80 per cent THC. Petitpas Taylor said packaging would be
required to include information on the THC and CBD levels in products.

The consultation document says the rules are aimed at providing adults
"with access to quality-controlled cannabis products of known potency"
and to "reduce the appeal of cannabis products to youth . . . or the
risk of accidental consumption of cannabis by young persons."

Health warnings will be required and there will be restrictions on
colours and prints on packaging so that the products are not enticing
to children, Petitpas Taylor said.

The task force led by Anne McLellan last year recommended the
government adopt plain packaging rules. The minister insisted that the
new rules reflected those concerns.

The proposed regulations would bar anyone with a criminal record for
drug trafficking, serious drug-related or violent offences from
obtaining a licence to operate or work at a senior level in a cannabis
company. However, the minister would be able to license people who
have a history of non-violent, lower-risk offences, say for simple
possession or small-scale cultivation of cannabis.

The minister who would have final authority over the granting of
security clearances insisted she was open to public feedback on that
proposal.

Asked whether that would exclude many small-sized pot businesses,
Petitpas Taylor insisted the government's priority is public safety
and public health.
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MAP posted-by: Matt