Quebec’s Superior Court overturned the provincial ban on home growing. It was enacted by the previous Liberal government, but heartily supported by the sitting CAQ government.
Montreal Gazette
- Justice Manon Lavoie found the sections of the Quebec Cannabis Regulations banning home cannabis cultivation infringed on federal jurisdiction and was therefore unconstitutional. Federal law allows up to four plants.
Globe and Mail - The lawyer who won the case warned Quebeckers to expect the government will appeal or rewrite the law in order to make it constitutional. (Part of the issue was that criminal matters are the sole domain of the federal government: the Quebec government could, for example, develop a civil penalty for home growing). However, the judge called the provincial ban “a flagrant case in which the provincial law interdicts something permitted in the federal law.”
CBC Montreal, TVA Nouvelles—In French
Anti-cannabis Quebec premier François Legault said he found the decision “surprising,” and justice minister Sonia LeBel called for “prudence” from Quebeckers while her government decides whether to appeal the judgment, rewrite the law, or let it stand.
Journal de Montréal—In French
- Minister LeBel would not comment on how the decision might affect her government’s calls to raise the legal age for cannabis to 21.
- Lawyers in Manitoba, which also banned home growing, took note of the Quebec law being overturned, though it could be between months or years before a court case against the ban is built upon the Quebec court decision.
CTV News
Earlier in the week, the Cannabis Council of Canada sent a letter to the Quebec government protesting the proposed 30% cap on THC in extracts, which would ban products like vape pens and hashish. The CCC pointed out in a La Presse op-ed that Quebec’s draconian regs on vape products and edibles will encourage the public to continue consuming those same products on the illicit market.
Twitter, La Presse–In French
