The Government of Canadian territory Nunavut has released their draft rules for cannabis regulation, setting the legal purchase and possession age at 19 and keeping the possession limit at 30 grams – in line with federal proposals. The rules also provide landlords the ability to ban smoking or growing cannabis on their properties but suggest that localities not pass “dry” ordinances.
“Currently, the GN is proposing to not prohibit cannabis entirely in communities. That is, under this proposal there would be no ‘dry’ communities. This approach flows from the idea that prohibition does not work, is difficult to enforce, encourages and supports an illegal market, and may actually be worse for Nunavummiut.” – Government of Nunavut in the draft rules
The regulations propose not opening any physical retail shops in 2018, which would be government-run, but would allow sales to commence online or by phone once the federal government rolls out the program.
Due to the cold clime, the government does not anticipate that there would be any large-scale production in the territory, and since the “lack of road and rail connections among communities and to the rest of Canada is unique” the government is considering allowing citizens to import products from licensed producers which would increase access to “a wider range of cannabis products than the [Nunavut Liquor Commission] is likely to offer on its own.”
According to a December survey by the government, 75 percent of Nunavut residents support cannabis legalization.