Regulating Legalized Marijuana Retailing In Canada: A Regulatory Impact Assessment Study

Choose one of the following three optional topics for your RIAS Planning Report.

A Regulation on Retailing Legalized Marijuana.

A Regulation on Phased Reduction of Automobile Emissions to Zero by 2030.

A Regulation on Control of Production and Use of Genetically Modified Crops to Produce Oils, Starch, Fibre, Protein or Other Chemicals for Industrial Processes.

Issue

Cannabis legalization is new to Canada and therefore the matter needs a thorough study, along with its various regulations. A strategic study plan is required to understand the jurisdiction, regulatory and non-regulatory options, merits and demerits, implementation, enforcement and service standards and its performance measures of the Cannabis Regulations. To be precise, the Cannabis Act (S.C. 2018, c. 16) is to be considered to understand the retail system of the legalized cannabis in Canada.

To conduct the study, the Regulatory Impact Assessments Studies (RIAS) structure needs to be followed, which would thoroughly cover the grey areas of the topic. The RIAS lays down the structure of the study that includes the objectives of the study, the regulatory and no regulatory option the issue has, the benefits and the cost involved, the implementation and enforcement standards and lastly the performance measure (Secretariat 2018). These factors would help in gathering the data and the information and understanding the regulations pertaining to the retail industry of the recently legalized marijuana in Canada.  

The objective of the study is to assess the regulations relating to the retail industry of legalized marijuana in Canada. The benefits, implementation and enforcement of the matter needs to be understood with the help of this study. The study of the regulation of retailing legalized marijuana in Canada based on RIAS would help to assess the different regulatory and non-regulatory options that the matter has (Secretariat 2018).

Canada has recently declared complete legalization of marijuana, which includes retail cannabis stores that would be operational for business across Canada. The declaration is the outcome of the long-standing battle fought by marijuana enthusiasts. This made the country, the first wealthy nation to legalize cannabis retailing for recreational purpose (Hajizadeh, Mohammad 2016). The Cannabis Act of Canada allowed marijuana possession; home growing and sales for the ones above the age of 18 (varies at some province).  The Canadian Federal government is considering the possible demerits of the magnanimous change that the country underwent and the remaining necessary criminal sanctions, like selling marijuana to minors or forced administration of marijuana to people, etcetera. The country is formulating policies for regulating the licensing system of the producers of marijuana while the country strives to watch over the distribution and sales of the products. The Cannabis Act provides the recommendations laid down by federal authorities pertaining to marijuana legalization ("Cannabis Legalization And Regulation" 2018). To have an authentic information regarding the matter, a thorough is required for evaluating the factors discussed above.

The federal government’s decision to legalize marijuana comprises of the following legislation:

• The Cannabis Act
• The Industrial Hemp Regulations
• Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
• Food and Drugs Act

The analysis of these regulations and the policies would give a clear picture of the vast area of the use of marijuana and its bi-products. The Controlled drugs and Substances Act (S.C. 1996, c. 19) controls the use of certain drugs, their precursors and other narcotic substances and successfully repeals the Narcotic Control Act. While the Food and Drugs Act (R.S., c. F-27) is for the food, drugs, cosmetics and therapeutic devices. This statute, unlike the former lays down the therapeutic use of marijuana for curing several diseases that the scientists claim ("A Public Health Approach To The Legalization, Regulation And Restriction Of Access To Cannabis | Canadian Public Health Association" 2018). However, it does not include marijuana under the natural health products. On the other hand, the Cannabis Act (S.C. 2018, c. 16) is solely dedicated to retailing and consumption of cannabis ("Justice Laws Website" 2018). In addition, it amends the Controlled drugs and Substances Act as well. The Industrial Hemp Regulations lays down the reasoning behind the strong support for the production and promotion of industrial hemp, as they are said to meet the hemp quality and standard that is approved for commercial cultivation ("Cannabis Legalization And Regulation" 2018). The Cannabis Act seeks to protect the youth by serving strict restrictions pertaining to selling marijuana to a person below 18 years of age. It restricts the promotion of cannabis so that it do not entice the youth to indulge. The law lays down deterrent provisions that attract criminal liability for violating the restrictive provisions.

Objectives

In addition to, the regulatory options for the legal retailing of marijuana, the several non-regulatory factors are to be taken into consideration. Non-regulatory factors like health benefit, reducing the costs incurred by the citizens, the burden of the judiciary, and some others have paved the way for the growing concern of the government pertaining to the legalization of recreational marijuana. Apart from the government policies, the conventional morals and ethics of the society helps people to set the distinction between right and wrong of the use and misuse of marijuana (Hajizadeh, Mohammad 2016).

Retailing marijuana is ought to have certain risks and challenges. The federal and the provincial government is required to maintain a balance between the permissions and the restriction it offers to the people.  A thorough study of the statistical data over the years would confirm that the prohibition on marijuana has been costly for the Canadians as thousands of people are arrested for offenses related to marijuana and it has ripped off communities and torn families apart for people being heavily fined and sometimes thrown into the prison (Hajizadeh, Mohammad 2016). While, implementation, enforcement and appropriate service of the regulatory statutes also involves costs, but it is a relief for the citizens as they would be saved from the unnecessary hardship of the strict sanctions. In addition, legalization would involve the implementation of the taxation regulations pertaining to selling and consuming marijuana, which would fetch the government a hefty revenue. This can be considered a huge benefit for the government along with the lesser number of cases that would be charged for the consumption and sale of marijuana.

The various reports, journals and statistical data needs to be taken as a reference, which would evidently confirm the benefits and misuses of making marijuana cheaper and easily available. Analysts have claimed that in the end, a marijuana joint and a tea bag would be prized at a similar level for both of them comes from a plant and requires parchment paper for packaging.

Marijuana is not considered highly dangerous in comparison to other known drugs, to be clear. Although it does carry the burdens and taboos of overuse issues, addiction problems, accidents and psychotic episodes, yet it is been scientifically proven that marijuana consumption has several medicinal benefits, which has been one of the boosts for the federal government to legalize marijuana consumption (Hajizadeh, Mohammad 2016). Along with the permission, the federal government has legislated certain regulations and policies to guide and limit the use and misuse of marijuana. These regulations are the key to understand the ambit of the people to consume pot, the retailers to sell them and the producers to follow the prescribed standards. The Cannabis Act lays down the restriction on promotion and enticement of the marijuana products to the youth who are under the prescribed age to consumer or possess marijuana. The main rationale behind the decision of the federal government to legalize marijuana has to be the want of reducing the criminal activity and the burden of the courts that are overburdened with cases related to illegal marijuana consumption ("A Public Health Approach To The Legalization, Regulation And Restriction Of Access To Cannabis | Canadian Public Health Association" 2018). The long lists of criminal records and court cases needs to be thoroughly read to acknowledge the fact.

The Canadian federal, provincial and territorial governments jointly handles the cannabis regulation system with the support of the Cannabis Act, Food and Drugs Act and the Industrial Hemp Regulations. The federal government has set its responsibility to provide the following services:

• Regulations and restrictions for the licensed producers who grow and manufacture cannabis.
• Legislation of rules and standards pertaining the respective industry which includes deciding the types of marijuana which is to be grown by the producers, the standard of packaging and labelling the products before distribution, marking the standard of consumption limit, the potency of the products.
• Restriction on adulteration, strict prohibition to keep marijuana out from the illegal market and lastly to restrict the promotional activities of retailing marijuana.

As for the enforcement is concerned, the Cannabis Act lays down the sanctions for the misuse of marijuana that may extend from hefty monetary penalties to critical imprisonment terms ("Justice Laws Website" 2018). Additionally, for the protection of the youth, the Act strives to lay down criminal offences for selling or procuring cannabis for a person who has not attained the age of 18. Any person violating this provision would be penalized with a maximum imprisonment of 14 years. A thorough study of the official Canadian websites give a clear picture of the new regulations and the policies that strives to implement and enforce the Cannabis Act (Canada 2018).

The legislations strives to make the cannabis concentrates and edible products available to people within 12 months from the date of commencement, which clearly shows that it is gearing up for delivering an effective performance for serving the citizens. To evaluate the performance of the government’s activities further pertaining to the legalization of the recreational marijuana, the various regulations and policies need to be studied thoroughly. The provisions of the Cannabis Act, especially lays down the criminal offences and its sanctions pertaining to the misuse of marijuana that includes imprisonment and monetary penalties ("Justice Laws Website" 2018). In addition, the general view of the common people regarding the performance of the regulations to control the misuse of marijuana needs to be evaluated by conducting survey amongst the targeted population.

The evaluation of the regulations and their effects need to be analyzed for understanding the effective working of the statutes. However, it is quite early to estimate the cause and effect of the implementation of the regulations, as they are yet to get the scope of spreading their effective enforcement strategies. The decision of the legalization of marijuana has been recently taken and therefore the regulations guiding it deserve time for better and effective implementation and enforcement. It is to be kept in mind that the legalization of Cannabis has been the outcome of the excessive legal burden and unruly selling and buying of cannabis that has been damaging the society.

References

"A Public Health Approach To The Legalization, Regulation And Restriction Of Access To Cannabis | Canadian Public Health Association". 2018. Cpha.Ca. https://www.cpha.ca/public-health-approach-legalization-regulation-and-restriction-access-cannabis

"Cannabis Legalization And Regulation". 2018. Justice.Gc.Ca. https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/cannabis/.

"Justice Laws Website". 2018. Https://Laws-Lois.Justice.Gc.Ca/Eng/Acts/C-24.5/. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-24.5/

Canada, Service. 2018. "Legalizing And Strictly Regulating Cannabis: The Facts - Canada.Ca". Canada.Ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/services/health/campaigns/legalizing-strictly-regulating-cannabis-facts.html.

Hajizadeh, Mohammad. "Legalizing and regulating marijuana in Canada: review of potential economic, social, and health impacts." International journal of health policy and management 5, no. 8 (2016): 453.

Secretariat, Treasury. 2018. "RIAS Writer's Guide 2009 - Canada.Ca". Canada.Ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/federal-regulatory-management/guidelines-tools/regulatory-impact-analysis-statements-writers-guide-2009.html#toc19.