[co-author: Kathleen Devlin - Articling Student]

The government of Prince Edward Island released details about its retail and distribution model for recreational cannabis on Tuesday. While the province had previously announced in December that recreational cannabis would be sold through the Liquor Control Commission and that the minimum age to use and purchase recreational cannabis would be 19, further details about the model remained unknown until Tuesday’s announcement. P.E.I.’s Department of Justice and Safety outlined the following details:

• The government will operate four government-owned retail locations and will allow online orders for home delivery.
• The retail locations will be located in Charlottetown, Summerside, Montague and West Prince.
• The government will sign deals with three suppliers—Canada’s Island Garden, OrganiGram and Canopy Growth Corporation.
• Adults will be permitted to possess 30 grams of dried cannabis.
• The government will increase their public education efforts about cannabis.
• The province will strengthen roadside suspensions and create a summary offence in cases of drug-impaired driving with a minor—convictions of these summary offences will result in a fine rather than jail time.
• When transporting cannabis it must be unopened in its package and, if open in a vehicle, it should be inaccessible to those in the vehicle.

The province has yet to announce the price of cannabis, where Islanders will be allowed to use recreational cannabis and how much it will cost the province to set up its infrastructure for retail sales. We can expect further announcements from the province outlining these details as we approach July 2018.

See our blog which provides a broader provincial update: Canada 2018 Cannabis Regulation: Provincial Update