Canada: Higher Nova Scotia fines tar­get unreg­u­lated can­nabis sales

Nova Sco­tia is intro­du­cing higher fines and new offences aimed at dis­cour­aging unreg­u­lated can­nabis sales, includ­ing pen­al­ties for unreg­u­lated sellers who advert­ise can­nabis and land­lords who allow sales on their prop­er­ties.

The changes to the province’s Can­nabis Con­trol Act took effect Thursday after being passed dur­ing the latest legis­lature sit­ting in Feb­ru­ary.

Attor­ney Gen­eral and Justice Min­is­ter Scott Arm­strong said the new meas­ures are inten­ded to pro­tect young people and to rein­force the province’s reg­u­lated can­nabis sys­tem where the Nova Sco­tia Liquor Corp. (NSLC) is the only author­ized retailer for recre­ational can­nabis.

“Nova Sco­tia’s approach to can­nabis reg­u­la­tion is squarely focused on pub­lic health and safety, espe­cially for our youth,” Arm­strong said in a news release. “These changes rein­force that buy­ing and selling can­nabis out­side the legal mar­ket is against the law.”

The province said it iden­ti­fied at least 118 illegal can­nabis out­lets in Nova Sco­tia, com­pared to 51 legal NSLC can­nabis stores, as it moved earlier this year to strengthen enforce­ment.

Under new rules, a per­son under 19 found pos­sess­ing can­nabis can face a fine of between $250 and $500.

Adults who pur­chase can­nabis any­where other than the NSLC can face fines ran­ging from $600 to $5,000. The fine for an indi­vidual illeg­ally selling can­nabis now ranges from $5,000 to $25,000, while a busi­ness could face pen­al­ties of $15,000 to $50,000.

The changes also cre­ate new offences for unau­thor­ized can­nabis sellers who pro­mote or advert­ise sales and for land­lords who allow illegal can­nabis sales on their prop­erty. Each offence car­ries a fine of $25,000.

For unreg­u­lated sales involving at least one kilo­gram of can­nabis, the province has cre­ated a pen­alty with a fine of twice the tax that would have been paid on the legal sale, which it says works out to $3,680 per kilo­gram.

Nova Sco­tia’s Can­nabis Con­trol Act des­ig­nates the NSLC as the exclus­ive retailer of recre­ational can­nabis in the province. Adults 19 and older can buy can­nabis through des­ig­nated NSLC stores or online, while sales at other retail­ers remain illegal.

The amend­ments also expan­ded enforce­ment pro­vi­sions under the act. When the legis­la­tion was intro­duced in Feb­ru­ary, the province said it would allow the depart­ment to des­ig­nate peace officers to enforce the act along­side police.

The province added that all can­nabis offences in Nova Sco­tia carry man­dat­ory min­imum fines.

In its release, the province included a state­ment from Dr. Sabina Abidi, asso­ciate chief of child and adoles­cent psy­chi­atry at the IWK Health Centre, who said the pro­gram sees the impact of high-potency can­nabis on youth men­tal health “first-hand.”

Abidi said young people have raised con­cerns about the ser­i­ous risks to men­tal health asso­ci­ated with high-potency can­nabis and how easy the products are to access.

“We must strengthen meas­ures that reduce youth access, pro­mote safer use and pre­vent harm through col­lab­or­a­tion among health-care pro­viders, fam­il­ies, edu­cat­ors, com­munit­ies, gov­ern­ment and youth,” she said.

https://www.pressreader.com/canada/the-chronicle-herald-provincial/20260627/282132118167268