Canada law - more than 4 plants

[Stoner]

Been a while since I have check up on the Cannabis Legalization.
First thing I am celebrating, Cannabis is no longer a Schedule II prohibited product. That means the entire machinery of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act no longer applies to natural Cannabis.

SCHEDULE II
(Sections 2, 4 to 7.1, 10, 29, 55 and 60)
1 [Repealed, 2018, c. 16, s. 204]
2 Synthetic cannabinoid receptor type 1 agonists, their salts, derivatives, isomers, and salts of derivatives and isomers …

That brings us to the Cannabis Act

Criminal Activities
Marginal note:Possession

8 (1) Unless authorized under this Act, it is prohibited …

(d) for an individual to possess, in a public place, one or more cannabis plants that are budding or flowering;

(e) for an individual to possess more than four cannabis plants that are not budding or flowering; …

So, must be flowered in a non public space and must not exceed the 4 plant limit or …

Punishment

(2) Subject to section 51, every person that contravenes subsection (1)

(a) is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable

(i) in the case of an individual who is 18 years of age or older, to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years less a day,

(ii) in the case of a young person, to a youth sentence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, or

(iii) in the case of an organization, to a fine in an amount that is in the discretion of the court; or

(b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and is liable

(i) in the case of an individual who is 18 years of age or older, to a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment for a term of not more than six months, or to both,

(ii) in the case of a young person, to a youth sentence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, or

(iii) in the case of an organization, to a fine of not more than $100,000.

Ticketable Offences
Marginal note:Procedure

51 (1) In addition to the procedures set out in the Criminal Code, proceedings referred to in subsection (2) against an individual who is 18 years of age or older or an organization may be commenced by a peace officer …

(b) proceedings against an individual who is 18 years of age or older in respect of an offence arising out of the contravention of paragraph 8(1)(e) or subparagraph 9(1)©(ii) in respect of five or six cannabis plants; …

Amount

(4) For the purpose of paragraph (3)©, the amount is

(a) for an offence referred to in any of paragraphs (2)(a) to (h), $200 plus a victim surcharge, calculated in accordance with subsection 737(2) of the Criminal Code, and any applicable administrative fees; …

public place includes any place to which the public has access as of right or by invitation, express or implied, and any motor vehicle located in a public place or in any place open to public view. (lieu public)

So, cultivating 4 plants in private is not an offence.
Cultivation of 5 or 6 plants is a Ticketable offence with a fine of $200+
Cultivation of 7 plants, court will determine the consequences.

[anon95954822]

FWIW, and just my own opinion regarding the “legalization”…

I have to agree completely with @Scissor-Hanz on this…

14 years for weed…nice “legalization”. Shit is more illegal than ever now.

and with @Muleskinner on this…

grrrrrr…plant counts suck! Let’s count how many glasses of wine and booze these politicians drink every night and see how they like it…plant your seeds!

I would however, not be too inclined to leave a decision of guilt or innocence, or even a fine, left to the discretion of a Judge if it is Cannabis related. Get the wrong Judge on the wrong day and you will quickly understand how discriminatory Canadian Law is. Better yet, get a Judge who is retiring the very next day after sentencing (Don’t ask me how I know, I just know lol)

Best advice I could give anyone, is that the laws are out there, and if you choose to break the laws as stated(as it is going to be interpreted as a prosecutor would) be as discreet about it as possible. I know we all post things that would land many of us in jail (myself included) but I trust the community here on OG (if I didn’t I wouldn’t have posted any pictures, etc), and figured if I am going to get caught for anything stupid that I do, it won’t even be Cannabis related.

I can honestly see this becoming a problem in the Canadian court system. Instead of the possession charges for carrying a few grams, you’re gonna see “home gardeners” getting busted and fined or jailed for growing a “legal LOL” plant…

Peace
DaFozz

[beacher]

Thanks for this, those are the details I was unable to find. Great info!

[Stoner]

It is critical that we know where we stand. This is a new Act, the previous sentence guidelines no longer apply. The courts will work out that mess…

(b) for an individual who is 18 years of age or older to possess any cannabis that they know is illicit cannabis;

This is a little more problematic, there are no legit seed sources. All growing Cannabis is illicit.

[beacher]

Ya it’s pretty much unenforceable though. Lucky for me all my seeds were found in buds purchased from legal providers!

[Stoner]

Seeds are long gone, but I keep the package for old times sake.

[Stoner]

all my seeds were found in buds purchased from legal providers!

Yea, I am sure LEO will take that into consideration…

[beacher]

The burden of proof would lie on them. I doubt we’ll ever see any prosecutions on that particular aspect of the law, it’s far too ambiguous. If anything it will be one of those charges they tack on with other stuff to try and make something stick.

@Stoner how were those genetics?

[cogitech]

@Stoner

This is a little more problematic, there are no legit seed sources.

I beg to differ. All my seeds are legit.

seeds*

[beacher]

Hell ya, I’m puffing on some of dat bakerstreet right now!

[man-bot]

Back when the first LPs got up and running I had a card with Tweed and Mettrum - both were pretty good. I liked Baker Street, Hindu Kush isn’t it?

I’ve tried a few different vendors of the current recreational offering and I have to say it’s been pretty hit and miss…

[MBVapester]

Yup and I liked it too for bedtime. Too bad they have gone downhill in quality.

[anon85652984]

65 bucks for 4 seeds at nova cannabis

[Komodoghost]

Just watch how much you grow outside imho but also a plant in the government eyes is a sprouted seed.

[Stoner]

Thanks for that link, I am thrilled to be wrong.

Bakerstreet sounds awesome, and meets the fully legit source question.

[cogitech]

@Stoner

meets the fully legit source question

Buy one pack as “proof” that your plants are legit (keep packaging and receipt), and when they ask why you have so many seeds, just claim one of your plants hermied and produced all the seeds in your possession.

This only works if you don’t have breeders packs of “illicit” seeds in jars in your fridge.

The solution to that is to put all seeds in generic containers and number them, then keep a spreadsheet of what numbers correspond to which strains on your PC (on an encrypted drive, if you want to go that far). Cops ask what the numbers on the containers mean and you claim you graded them for seed quality (colour, size, etc.)

Only genetic testing could ever prove they are illicit seeds, and they’d never go that far for some guy growing 4 plants at home.

By the way 1 seed = 1 gram of dried flower under these new laws

For example, in BC the home possession limit is 1000 grams. If I have 500 seeds, that means I can only have 500 grams of dried flower.

So, be careful with seed production folks. An 8 foot tall outdoor plant that goes to seed could easily put you in jail with 10s of thousands of seeds equaling that many grams of weed, in the eyes of the law.

[beacher]

Ya for the record i was being sarcastic there

I’m sure the strain is just dandy, but fuck those people they don’t get a dime of my money

[cogitech]

Cheap price to pay to be able to say “yes, I purchased my seeds at the BC Cannabis Store - here is the packaging and receipt” if ever asked. Note: I’m not saying I would ever grow the seeds, but the one receipt and package would certainly be worth a one-time purchase. In fact, I am going to do that right now.

[cogitech]

Done. I ordered the Argyle strain, which is Nordle - which I’ve always wanted to try, actually.

It came to $67 CAD for 4 feminized seeds, but that packaging and receipt could be worth a hell of a lot more to me than $67 some day.

[beacher]

If in some obscure twist of fate the police raided me and my 4 legal plants and wanted to charge me for illegal seeds I would happily pay for a lawyer to drag that case out. Its a super ambiguous law and will almost certainly be overturned once challenged in court. I doubt there’s a judge in the country who would give someone jail time for possessing seeds.

Also, the burden of proof is too high for the cops…go ahead and DNA test my plants and those seeds to prove they didn’t come from legal stock, not to mention the grey area of seeds produced at home from 4 legal plants with legal stock. What about a bagseed from an LP?

I’ll be shocked if we ever see this law used in any normal context. It might be used to stack charges on someone they really want to nail…