Канадада марихуананы заңдастыру тарихы

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Cannabis in Canada is legal for both recreational and medicinal purposes. Medicinal use of cannabis was legalized nationwide under conditions outlined in the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations, later superseded by the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations, issued by Health Canada and seed, grain, and fibre production was permitted under licence by Health Canada. The federal Cannabis Act came into effect on October 17th, 2018 and made Canada the second country in the world, after Uruguay, to formally legalize the cultivation, possession, acquisition, and consumption of cannabis and its by products. Canada is the first G7 and G20 nation to do so. Cannabis was originally prohibited in 1923 until regulated medical cannabis became legal on 30 July 2001. In response to popular opinion, the legislation to legalize cannabis for recreational use (Cannabis Act, Bill C 45) was passed by the House of Commons of Canada on 27 November 2017; it passed second reading in the Senate of Canada on 22 March 2018. On 18 June 2018, the House passed the bill with most, but not all, of the Senate's amendments. The Senate accepted this version of the Act the following day. The federal government announced that recreational use of cannabis would no longer violate criminal law as of 17 October 2018. This legalization comes with regulation similar to that of alcohol in Canada, age restrictions, limiting home production, distribution, consumption areas and sale times. The process removed cannabis possession for personal consumption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act; while implementing taxation and stronger punishments for those convicted of either supplying cannabis to minors, or of impairment while driving a motor vehicle. As of January 2019, online sales of cannabis for recreational use were well underway across Canada, via the provincial or territorial governments. Most provinces also had storefront operations selling cannabis, either operated by the government or private enterprise.

Drug prohibition in Canada began with the Opium Act of 1908. Historians often point to the 1922 publication of Emily Murphy's The Black Candle as the catalyst for the addition of the three extra drugs to a list of prohibited substances. Although Murphy's anti drug screeds were widely read and helped spread the drug panic across the country, historian Catharine Carstairs disputes that the seven page chapter "Marahuana – a new menace" inspired the inclusion of cannabis as a restricted substance. Cannabis was made illegal when it was added to the country's Confidential Restricted List in 1923 under the Narcotics Drug Act Amendment Bill after a vague reference to a "new drug" during a late night session of the House of Commons on 23 April 1923. According to one government official, cannabis was outlawed after the Director of the Federal Division of Narcotic Control returned from League of Nations meetings where the international control of cannabis was broached. Cannabis did not begin to attract official attention in Canada until the later 1930s, and even then it was minimal. Between 1946 and 1961, cannabis accounted for only 2% of all drug arrests in Canada. In response to the increased popularization of marijuana and the increase in criminal charges against middle class citizens, the government formed the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Non Medical Use of Drugs, usually referred to as the Le Dain Commission, in 1969 to investigate non medical cannabis use in Canada. The commission's 1972 report recommended removing criminal penalties for cannabis possession, though not legalization, per se. While the subsequent two federal governments discussed the recommendation, no steps were actually taken to change legislation. In 2001, the country started a medical marijuana program, managed by Health Canada. The program originally offered people access to home grown cannabis or sales directly from Health Canada. This was replaced with new regulations that set up a more traditional commercial sector for cannabis cultivation and distribution in 2013.

Since 1997, public opinion polls have found an increasing majority of Canadians agree with the statement, "Smoking marijuana should not be a criminal offence". In June 2016, a national poll conducted by Nanos Research showed that 7 in 10 Canadians were in favour of legalization. By 2006, a high percentage of the population was using cannabis, in spite of the risk of police charges for possession, and especially for selling it without the required licence, according to statistics gathered by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Nearly half (44%) of Canadians admit to trying it at least once; no statistics were provided as to the percentage who use it frequently. The CAMH report also indicates that by the last year of high school, nearly half (46%) of Ontario students admit to having used marijuana in the past year. The CAMH discussion includes warnings about the negative effects of cannabis. Other groups also warn about the risk, including the Canadian Automobile Association whose 2016 poll indicated, "Almost two thirds of Canadians are concerned that roads will become more dangerous [due to impairment by the drug] with the legalization of marijuana". An October 2016 national poll by Forum suggests that about five million adult Canadians now use cannabis at least once a month; this is expected to increase by 19 percent after marijuana is legalized. A report by Canada's Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) is more bullish, estimating that by 2021 some 5.2 million adults may be users. The Canadian government's Canadian Cannabis Survey 2021 found that 17% of Canadians aged 16 and older reported using cannabis in the last 30 days.

Growers that currently produce marijuana are licensed by Health Canada under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR). As of late 2016, there were 36 authorized producers across the country in Health Canada's list. Sales were allowed only by mail order, but by late 2017, some major retailers had applied for a change in the rules to allow them to also sell the product. By 21 December 2017, 82 licences had been issued under the ACMPR, but not all of the producers had been licensed to begin selling medical marijuana. The vast majority of these companies were located in Ontario. At that time, no licences had been issued yet for producing recreational cannabis; the producers already licensed were hoping to be added to that list after it is created. Between 1 February and early April 2018, some 89 additional applicants were approved as cannabis growers by Health Canada; at the time, the agency was considering the merits of another 244 applications. Statistics indicate that, as of September 2016, nearly 100,000 Canadians had bought medical marijuana legally, a significant increase over the 30,537 in September 2015, presumably since it is becoming a mainstream drug and since supplies are becoming more readily available. According to a StatsCan estimate, Canadians may have spent roughly CAD$6.2 billion (US$4.8 billion) on marijuana in 2015, although the agency admits that there is no scientific method of accurately measuring illegal consumption. The report by the Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation had recommended that recreational cannabis growers should be licensed at a federal level, separately from the producers of medical marijuana. The expert panel also recommended that the process ensure competition by licensing both large and small producers. While licensing should be federal, each of the provinces should be allowed to determine how and where the product will be sold. After the plans for legalization became well publicized, industry analysts reported that some of the producers who had been licensed for medical marijuana, including Aurora Cannabis, were already increasing the capacity of their operations for future sales to the distributors of recreational cannabis. A report in late November 2017 by Ernst & Young suggested that there would be mergers, leaving fewer players in this industry. "Many believe that consolidation is inevitable, leaving a few large players post legalization." Also in late 2017, Deloitte predicted that the recreational cannabis market would be worth close to $23 billion. Lately, US Alcohol companies have been showing interest in the Cannabis business in Canada. US Cannabis producers are afraid that Canada is going to be the prime dominator in the market. On 17 October 2019, alternative cannabis products such as drinks, edibles, and topicals became legal for production, and were expected to be available for sale two months later. Deloitte has predicted that the alternative cannabis product market will be worth close to $2.7 billion. Due to illegality of cannabis federally in the United States, crossing the international border from Canada into the United States while carrying cannabis is still illegal. Past consumption of cannabis can also lead to a permanent ban on entry to the U. S.

An October 2019 report stated that total cannabis sales for the first seven months of the year were only C$524 million when C$4.34 billion (US$3.29 billion) was forecast a year ago. Sales were modest because of the limited number of retail operations in Ontario and Quebec where some 23 million people resided; each province had only 25 outlets, as of October 2019.

A report in October 2019 by Bloomberg News painted a bleak picture of the legal cannabis industry. Because of the relatively few retail outlets, especially in Ontario, and the high retail prices, the black market remained persistent. An independent cannabis research firm estimated that the black market accounted for 86% of cannabis sales. On average, on a Canada wide basis, legal cannabis was selling for about $10.23 per gram versus $5.59 found on the black market according to StatsCan. The province of Ontario tooks steps in 2020 to increase the number of retail licenses issued per month to increase the availability of legal cannabis, in order to combat the illicit market. The market share of legal cannabis products has since risen rapidly, with a Statistics Canada analysis suggesting that Canadians were spending more on legal than illegal cannabis products by the third quarter of 2020, with the amount spent in the black market having dropped by nearly half since immediately prior to legalization. In response to Statistics Canada's 2021 Canadian Cannabis Survey, 64% of cannabis users reported that they usually purchased cannabis from a legal storefront or online store, up from 54% in 2020 and 37% in 2019.

Under the Cannabis Act passed in 2018, only producers licensed by the government are allowed to grow the product. As of early October 2018, there were at least 117 such licensed producers. Although consolidation of the cannabis market in Canada is expected to the point where "a handful of companies will control the majority of the market", many claim that there is an important need for smaller craft cannabis producers that are "more able to adapt to consumer demand". The craft cannabis industry has been compared to the craft beer industry – smaller producers who are able to experiment more and provide a wider variety to the larger companies, which will likely try to please as many consumers as possible. However, the difference is that the relatively new rise of craft brewers in a mature market is different than craft cannabis starting at the same time as larger producers (for recreational cannabis). This will give larger producers the edge in the short term since those companies have more money. The expected buy in for craft cannabis producers is perhaps slightly higher than craft brewers,) cannabis will be sold in plain packaging and traditional advertising such as TV commercials will be prohibited. They will likely not even be able to mention things that could be important to the consumer such as where it's grown (i. e., "buy local") and if it's organic. Further, simply selling their product may be difficult. The supply chain is still not entirely clear as it is in the beer industry, but there are ways for craft cannabis producers to sell their product through selling to other micro processors – and potentially larger producers – or applying for a micro processing licence themselves. As of the legalization date, consumers cannot sample or purchase product directly from a craft cannabis producer's storefront as you can with craft beer or buy cannabis from a stall on the side of the road as you might from a farmer. However, British Columbia's Public Safety Minister Mike Farnsworth said that the province wouldn't rule out farmers selling direct to consumer. Still, most craft cannabis producers are optimistic. One craft cannabis producer told The Globe and Mail that "I think there is a real opportunity there for small independents." who will experiment with strains, increase variety, and produce a quality product that it can sell at a premium.) The Task Force report recommended that high potency cannabis (with a high THC content) be taxed at a higher level than the conventional product to make it less attractive to consumers. The federal government had announced in October 2017 that its budget would include $546 million over five years to prepare the "legal framework to strictly regulate and restrict access to cannabis" and another $150 million over six years to enforce the restrictions on drug impaired driving. Health Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police will receive a share of the funds. Of this amount, municipal and indigenous police services should receive $81 million to offset the increased cost of training and resources. On 10 November 2017, the government announced that the federal excise tax, to be shared 50/50 with the provinces and territories, should not exceed $1 a gram or 10 per cent of the producer's price, whichever is higher. The government's press released did not specify higher tax on high potency products.