Legalize and strictly regulate cannabis.
What success looks like
The government established a strict framework for controlling the legal production, distribution, sale, and possession of Cannabis in Canada.
Government's narrative on progress
The *Cannabis Act* came into force on October 17, 2018. The Act creates a strict legal framework for controlling the production, distribution, sale, and possession of cannabis across Canada. The objectives of the Act are to better protect Canadian youth, to keep profits out of the hands of criminals and organized crime, and to protect public health and safety by allowing adults access to legal cannabis. The Act also makes it a specific criminal offence to sell cannabis to a minor and creates significant penalties for those who use young persons to commit cannabis-related offences. The legislation was based on the advice from the Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation. The advice flowed from extensive engagement with Canadians, representatives of provincial, territorial and municipal governments, experts on public health, law enforcement and justice officials, patients, young people, advocates, Indigenous governments and representative organizations, employers and industry. Regulations to support the *Cannabis Act* came into force at the same time as the Act. A regulatory framework for the legal sale of edibles cannabis, cannabis extracts and topicals is in development and is expected to be in force by October 2019. On December 20, 2018, Health Canada launched a 60-day public consultation on the proposed regulations governing the production and sale of additional cannabis products. Companion legislation to strengthen impaired driving laws (Bill C-46) includes three new offences for having a prohibited concentration of drugs (including THC) in the blood within two hours of driving. In March 2019, the government introduced Bill C-93, *An Act to provide no-cost, expedited record suspensions for simple possession of cannabis* which proposes to allow Canadians previously convicted of simple cannabis possession to apply for a pardon (also known as a record suspension), and waives both the fee and the wait period. A national Cannabis Tracking System to track high-level movements of cannabis through the supply chain is now operational. The Cannabis Tracking System prevents legal cannabis from being diverted to the illegal market and illegal cannabis from being introduced into the legal market. Federal license holders, and provinces and territories are required to report monthly inventory and sales data to Health Canada. The government accepts proposals from community-based and Indigenous organizations for specific public education and awareness projects related to cannabis. More than $100 million is budgeted over six years for investments in cannabis public education, awareness and surveillance.
Note: this is the government's own description, not an independent assessment.