CITYnews halifax : Nova Scotia increases fines, adds new offences for illegal cannabis

CITYnews halifax  / By Chris Halef

The province says it has raised fines and added new offences as part of its efforts to crack down on illegal cannabis.

The higher fines and new offences are intended to discourage illegal sales, it said in a press release.

“Nova Scotia’s approach to cannabis regulation is squarely focused on public health and safety, especially for our youth,” said Scott Armstrong, Attorney General and Minister of Justice. “These changes reinforce that buying and selling cannabis outside the legal market is against the law. They will help protect young people while supporting the safe, legal market for adults who choose to use cannabis.”

Some of the examples of increased fines include:

• A range of $250 to $500 for a person under 19 who possesses cannabis
• $600 to $5,000 for purchasing cannabis anywhere other than the NSLC
• $5,000 to $25,000 for an individual selling cannabis illegally
• $15,000 to $50,000 for a business selling cannabis illegally.

The province said it is now an offence for illegal cannabis sellers to advertise or promote cannabis sales and for landlords to allow cannabis sales on their property. Those offences carry a fine of $25,000.

Related:

• Cannabis raids in N.S., N.B., Ontario tied to transnational organized crime, RCMP say
• Case of Mi’kmaq man facing cannabis charges moves to constitutional challenge in N.S.
• N.B. border guards say they seized biggest shipment of suspected cannabis since 2015

Lobby group disbands over black market

This comes on a backdrop of what some groups are saying is an increase in illegal cannabis in the country.

The Cannabis Council of Canada suggested its members don’t have enough money to pay for its lobbying services.

Financial pressure, complex regulations and the “highly active” illicit market have “constrained the resources available to sustain a national association at its current level of activity,” the council said.

The council’s president, Paul McCarthy, said in an interview last week the organization has been calling on Ottawa to establish a national strategy for eradicating the unregulated cannabis market.

“While this is a provincial and territorial responsibility, I would say accountability rests with the federal government … they legalized it, it wasn’t the provinces and territories,” he said, adding that Ottawa would be best equipped to deal with the complexities of cannabis enforcement.

The government’s objectives when legalizing cannabis in 2018 were to displace the illicit market, keep the drug out of the hands of youth and ensure the product is safe, McCarthy said.

“The illicit market is the … common denominator that is actually the barrier to achieving all of the public policy objectives of legalization,” he said.

With files from Lyndsay Armstrong, The Canadian Press