Youths sharing a joint with minors shouldn’t be free of legal consequence: Senate
OTTAWA — There should be some legal consequences for youths who share a joint with a minor once recreational marijuana is legalized in Canada, the Senate decided Tuesday.
Senators voted 42-31 to approve an amendment to Bill C-45 that would make it a summary or ticketing offence for a young adult to share five grams or less of cannabis with a minor who is no more than two years younger; it would be an indictable offence to share with younger minors or to share more than five grams.
They also voted 45-29 to require that any company licensed to grow marijuana must publicly disclose all its shareholders or executive members who are not based in Canada — an amendment aimed at ensuring organized crime doesn’t use offshore tax havens to wind up secretly controlling the recreational marijuana market.
And they approved, by a close vote of 39-36, another amendment that would specify that police who seize cannabis plants don’t have to keep them alive.