Is buying Marijuana seeds legal in Canada?
April 19, 2007 4:56 PM   Subscribe

DoobieFilter: Is buying Marijuana seeds legal in Canada?
posted by stungeye to Law & Government (8 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
2nd google hit: "There is no legal supply available, and they're being forced into buying from the black market... Basically, this means that Health Canada is sanctioning, approving, endorsing, supporting - call it what you like - the selling, purchasing and distribution of marijuana seeds and plants through the illegal or black market to be used for legal purposes."
posted by unmake at 5:11 PM on April 19, 2007


Response by poster: unmake: Your linked article is referencing licensed medical marijuana users.

Are seeds also a legal grey-area for regular Canadian citizens?
posted by stungeye at 5:19 PM on April 19, 2007


Best answer: http://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcca/doc/2000/2000bcca363/2000bcca363.html

Seeds that can be grown are prohibited in Canada.
posted by newatom at 5:44 PM on April 19, 2007


Response by poster: Via newatom's link:

In 1987, there was enacted an addition to the Canadian Narcotic Control Act concerning the prohibition of "Cannabis sativa, its preparations, & derivatives". This addition exempted "non-viable cannabis seed" from the Act.

Also note the interesting site hosting this information. It looks like "CanLII's goal is to make Canadian law accessible for free on the Internet". A laudable goal indeed.
posted by stungeye at 6:13 PM on April 19, 2007


Law is in flux, (IANAL) but marijuana remains illegal. Discretion of police has increased for 'personal amounts'. Seeds are in the grey area of Canadian law. I don't have links at hand, but it relates to the THC content, I believe. Seeds have none; hemp has very little, and is legal. As referenced, there is no legal source for legal production; catch-22.
posted by acro at 8:59 PM on April 19, 2007


Best answer: I think there has only been one or two cases of people in Canada being convicted solely on selling seeds (I only saw the BC case on CanLii but I thought there was one down east too). I think both case are around 10 years old. Marc Emery was selling for years, very openly advertising, without being arrested until the Americans got interested - and he still has not been charged in Canada for distribution (one of the main arguments against the extradition I believe, that he can't be extradited for something that isn't a crime in Canada).

The difference between viable and non-viable seeds can only be tested by actually growing the plants (about three months) so I think that discourages the police too. I see them for sale all over the place; I think there is an idea in common-law that if a law on the books isn't normally enforced then the law eventually can't be enforced. Since 2002 this whole situation has become quite silly here. Love the tags BTW, made me laugh.
posted by saucysault at 9:01 PM on April 19, 2007


"Non-viable seed" in the '87 Act might refer to the use of hemp oils and sterile seeds in foods, cosmetics etc.
posted by acro at 9:02 PM on April 19, 2007


Best answer: You forgot "marijuana" as a tag.
posted by about_time at 10:53 PM on April 19, 2007


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