The Supreme Court of Canada upheld last Friday that Quebec has the right to ban Quebecers from growing their own cannabis at home, ruling the provincial ban on owning and growing cannabis plants for personal use to be constitutional. .
The landmark case, which has been making its way through the courts since 2019 when it was brought by Quebec resident Janick Murray-Hall, argued that such a ban was unconstitutional.
The Quebec government had argued that it had the right to completely ban the cultivation of cannabis at home and that it was doing so to protect young people. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal of that decision, finding that the provincial government’s ban on growing cannabis at home did not conflict with federal law that allows Canadians to grow up to four plants at home.
Although Mr. Murray-Hall’s legal team was initially successful, the provincial government appealed, and in September 2021 the Quebec Court of Appeal overturned that decision, stating that the province actually had the right to prohibit home cultivation of cannabis. His legal team appealed this decision, which led to the Supreme Court’s final decision.
Federal regulations allow Canadians to grow up to four cannabis plants per household. Provinces are allowed to place restrictions on this permission, for example by limiting the number of plants and/or requiring them to be grown in a secure area or out of public view.
However, when crafting cannabis law and regulations, the federal government argued that limiting the number of cannabis plants to zero, or outright banning them, would be outside of its purview.
The same goes for the federal age limit of 18 for access to alcohol, which the provinces can raise. All provinces and territories in Canada, with the exception of Alberta and Quebec, have set the age of access to cannabis at 19 years old. Alberta has set this age at 18 and Quebec at 21.
Quebec and Manitoba were the only two provinces to challenge this authority, banning home cultivation altogether. The decision could impact another case in Manitoba seeking to overturn that province’s own ban.
The judgment of the Court was rendered unanimously.
The ban on self-cultivation of cannabis in Quebec does not apply to persons authorized to cultivate cannabis for medical purposes. Being caught growing cannabis at home without a medical license is punishable by a fine of up to $750.
Jack Lloyd, lead counsel in a similar case challenging Manitoba’s home-grown cannabis ban, says he’s disappointed with the Supreme Court’s decision on the Quebec issue, but doesn’t think it weakens his case.
“While we are disappointed for Quebec, we do not believe that the Manitoba law is valid simply because of this decision. »
“Quebec’s objective was to strengthen its provincial monopoly and its sales, as in R. c. Comeau,” he continues. “Manitoba’s objective is to issue criminal penalties against cannabis growers, which is a purely criminal matter and therefore outside the jurisdiction of the Province of Manitoba. »
The Supreme Court of Canada rules that Quebec’s ban on possessing and cultivating cannabis plants for personal purposes is constitutional. Read our plain-language summary here: https://t.co/55PC0fbhdS #cdnlaw pic.twitter.com/zzV2fgyOYS
— Supreme Court of Canada (@SCC_eng) April 14, 2023
