The outcome is that the regulations include the following as an exception to the rule that cannabis must be obtained in accordance with the former Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations:
“A holder of a license for cultivation is authorized to possess cannabis plants and cannabis plant seeds that were not obtained in accordance with [the above] if the holder had submitted to the Minister, with the license application, a declaration, signed and dated by the individual who signed and dated the application, indicating the quantity of such cannabis plants and cannabis plant seeds that they will have in their possession on the effective date of the license.”
In other words, new licensed producer applicants under the Cannabis Act will be permitted to possess illicit cannabis plants and seeds so long as (1) a declaration is submitted to the Minister alongside the application that identifies the quantity of plants and seeds that they will have on the date the license is granted; and (2) that the quantity of plants and seeds declared to the Minister are actually in the applicant’s possession on the date their license is granted.
The regulations limit this ability to new applicants. It seems that this is by design, in order to encourage illicit cannabis cultivators to transition to the legal market. This system seems to have been developed in order for Health Canada to move toward its stated goal (detailed above) to ensure that organized crime would not benefit from ongoing criminal activity with cannabis.
Licensed producers with existing cultivation licenses will not have this opportunity under the regulations. It is quite likely that existing licensed producers, in order to take advantage of the introduction of these new varieties of black market genetics, will take an interest in acquiring new applicants who intend to bring new varieties to the table. Certainly, as new licenses are granted, the diversity of strains available to the public will increase far beyond what would have otherwise been available.
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