No Marijuana at Quebec Liquor Stores, Hints Finance Minister

Ever since Justin Trudeau promised to legalize marijuana, weed fiends have been left to speculate about the new Prime Minister's somewhat enigmatic plan to decriminalize the drug. Last December, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne stated that the point of sale for pot should be provincial liquor stores. Some vehemently disagree. Adam Greenblatt, the executive director and co-founder of Santé Cannabis, a Montreal medical marijuana clinic, told the CBC that he fears pot could fall prey to an over-regulated system and much prefers "to see it sold in pharmacies, dispensaries and age-restricted coffee shops."

Now Quebec's Liberal Party Finance Minister has disassociated himself from the complex logistics of commercializing legal marijuana. "I have no plan, no idea, and no intention to market [cannabis]," Carlos Leitão affirmed to La Presse. "It will be up to the federal government on how to market it. It's a field that doesn't interest me." Ottawa can't force Quebec to sell marijuana at Société des alcools du Québec liquor stores, the minister suggested. "I'll never have that obligation. Even if it becomes legal, it's not up to Quebec to market it."

Leitão will likely not have to worry about legal pot anytime soon. A recent report on Trudeau's plan declared that if pot were made legal across Canada, Ottawa would have to figure out how the law "would comply with three international treaties to which the country is a party, all of which criminalize the possession and production of marijuana." The Prime Minister has since set up a task force to devise a theoretical system of marijuana sales and distribution.