Alberta has become the second province to release details on how they plan to address the upcoming legalization of recreational marijuana.

Earlier this week, Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley talked about the main priorities they are looking at when it comes to the legalization plan.

One of the biggest priorities was setting the legal age limit.

"Alberta's minimum age for purchase and possession, aligning with Alberta's minimum age for alcohol and tobacco. We recognize there are health concerns around young people using cannabis. We also know that young people, those between the ages of 18 and 25, are the largest age category of users in Alberta."

The Government developed their plan after receiving feedback from Albertans through an online survey, who mentioned that protecting children from cannabis was a huge priority.

Ganley says one of the ways they're addressing that is restricting the use of marijuana in some public places. For the most part though, the same rules from smoking tobacco in public will apply to cannabis.

"We'll have all the same rules in place that we currently have for tobacco consumption so you won't be able to smoke cannabis anywhere that you couldn't smoke tobacco."

Another of the biggest issues that came up was how law enforcement officers will look to deal with those who are impaired behind the wheel from marijuana use.

Ganley says they will likely be similar to how Police address drinking and driving.

"You're usually charged with driving with a blood alcohol limit over the legal limit. You're also charged with impaired driving and that's based on the officer's observations of your behaviour. Those will be the same factors that are taken into account in proceeding with an impaired charge."

The framework is still a draft and the Government is looking for feedback on the proposal.

You can find more on the plan and share your thoughts on the Alberta Cannabis Framework website.

 

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