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Canada Plans for Full Cannabis Legalization

Can we follow the lead of the Great White North?
David N. Feldman is a partner at Duane Morris LLP, where he concentrates his practice on corporate and securities law and mergers and acquisitions, as well as general representation of public and private companies, entrepreneurs, investors, and private equity and venture capital firms. Mr. Feldman also advises small businesses with regard to alternatives to traditional financing through initial public offerings. His popular blog at www.DavidFeldmanBlog.com, focusing on entrepreneurship and the regulatory environment, has been recognized by LexisNexis as a Top 25 corporate law blog, and his videos appear on his YouTube channel, The Entrepreneur’s Advocate. Mr. Feldman is a 1985 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was managing editor of the student newspaper, the Penn Law Forum, and a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He has served as chair of the board of Wharton’s global alumni association.
David N. Feldman is a partner at Duane Morris LLP, where he concentrates his practice on corporate and securities law and mergers and acquisitions, as well as general representation of public and private companies, entrepreneurs, investors, and private equity and venture capital firms. Mr. Feldman also advises small businesses with regard to alternatives to traditional financing through initial public offerings. His popular blog at www.DavidFeldmanBlog.com, focusing on entrepreneurship and the regulatory environment, has been recognized by LexisNexis as a Top 25 corporate law blog, and his videos appear on his YouTube channel, The Entrepreneur’s Advocate. Mr. Feldman is a 1985 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was managing editor of the student newspaper, the Penn Law Forum, and a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He has served as chair of the board of Wharton’s global alumni association.

In a both exciting and sobering press release Thursday, Canada announced a plan to fully “legalize, strictly regulate and restrict access” to cannabis in the Great White North. The release starts bluntly: “The current approach to cannabis does not work.”

The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau clearly favors both medical and recreational cannabis legalization. They retain strong concerns, however, about the ease with which teenagers are able to obtain marijuana, as well as alcohol and drug-impaired driving. Thus, their new plan, dubbed the Cannabis Act, will strengthen penalties for impaired driving and selling marijuana to minors.

The hope, as indicated in the press release, is to work with the legislature to implement full cannabis legalization by July 2018. A surprising number of great things were invented or developed in Canada: peanut butter, the egg carton, IMAX, the walkie-talkie, the baggage tag and even insulin. Maybe we can follow the lead of our friends to the North and move towards removal of federal restrictions in the US as well.

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