{"id":3530,"date":"2022-01-07T22:31:44","date_gmt":"2022-01-07T22:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/wp-home\/?p=190467"},"modified":"2022-01-07T22:31:44","modified_gmt":"2022-01-07T22:31:44","slug":"no-legal-weed-for-the-unvaccinated-in-quebec-sort-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=3530","title":{"rendered":"No legal weed for the unvaccinated in Qu\u00e9bec (sort of)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/no-legal-weed-for-the-unvaccinated-in-quebec-sort-of.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p>  <title>No legal weed for the unvaccinated in Qu\u00e9bec (sort of) | Leafly<\/title>     <!-- This is Index Exchange, a script\/\/3rd-party integration that interjects GAM. It needs to be 'ahead' of GTM in the DOM, which comes from Cephalopod. GTM loads GAM. This script needs to setup it's interjection stuff before GAM loads. --> <!-- End Index Exchange --> <!-- Quotes = strings--><!-- No quotes = boolean-->\t   <!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v17.5 (Yoast SEO v17.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->                  <!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. --> <\/p>\n<p> <!-- BEGIN Sailthru Horizon Meta Information --><\/p>\n<p><!-- END Sailthru Horizon Meta Information -->  <!-- Google Publisher Tag --> <!-- End Google Publisher Tag --> <!-- Google Tag Manager --> <!-- End Google Tag Manager --> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat --><br \/>\n <!-- Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->   <\/p>\n<div id=\"copy_clipboard_success\" class=\"fixed top-0 left-0 right-0\">\n<div class=\"bg-white p-lg container mt-xl flex justify-between elevation-low rounded\"> <span class=\"flex items-center\">     <span class=\"ml-md\">Link copied to your clipboard<\/span> <\/span> <button id=\"copy_clipboard_close_btn\">    <\/button> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <!-- End Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->   <title>Leafly<\/title>     <title>Leafly \u00ae<\/title>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              <title>Loading\u2026<\/title>                <\/p>\n<div class=\"bg-white fixed flex hidden inset-0 items-start md:h-auto md:items-center overflow-auto\" id=\"age-gate-container\">\n<div class=\"bg-white md:h-auto mx-auto p-lg text-sm w-full\" id=\"age-gate\">\n<p><label for=\"select-country\">Where are you from?<\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"age-gate__info\">\n<p><label for=\"select-province\">Which part of Canada?<\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"age-gate__age hidden\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"error error--underage hidden\">Darn! You&#8217;re not old enough to use Leafly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"error error--unavailable hidden\">Sorry, Leafly isn&#8217;t available in your location yet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"hidden age-gate__loading\">Redirecting you to<span class=\"redirect-domain\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-xs mt-auto\">By accessing this site, you accept<br \/>\nthe <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"tou-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.ca\/info\/terms-of-use\">Terms of Use<\/a><br \/>\nand <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"pp-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.ca\/info\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"container my-xl\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col md:col-9\" id=\"article-content\">\n<p>Government officials in Qu\u00e9bec are planning to refuse cannabis and alcohol sales to the unvaccinated in the province. <\/p>\n<p>As the omicron coronavirus variant rages across Canada, the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec (CAQ) government has yet again resorted to controversial aggressive measures in the hope of clamping down on the spread of the virus. <\/p>\n<p>In addition to reinstating the nightly curfew that kept Quebeckers home after 8 pm (9:30 pm in some regions) for nearly five months last winter, CAQ Health Minister Christian Dub\u00e9 announced last week that Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s vaccine passport system would now be extended to provincial cannabis and alcohol stores.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Health Minister hopes this provision will incentivize the unvaccinated to get their first dose.<\/p>\n<p>Starting Jan 18, residents will need a vaccine passport to go into a cannabis retail store. However, residents can still order online and have products delivered to their home.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-cannabis-remains-essential-but-only-for-vaccinated\">Cannabis remains \u2018essential\u2019 but only for vaccinated<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cIt seems for the government, cannabis and alcohol are de facto changing status,\u201d explains Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al Professor Jean-S\u00e9bastien Fallu, an expert on psychosocial maladjustment and drug use disorder. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year when the government decided to make cannabis and alcohol essential goods, there was a large consensus among experts agreeing with this decision for different reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On hearing the update that would require vaccine passports for access to cannabis or hard alcohol, Fallu says, \u201cThe decision doesn\u2019t really make sense. My first reaction was to wonder: isn\u2019t this essential? It clearly is. And the vaccine passport is supposed to give access only to non-essential goods and services.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not really sure the people who aren\u2019t already vaccinated will run to get their vaccination because they can\u2019t access cannabis or strong alcohol,\u201d<\/p>\n<p><cite>Professor Jean-S\u00e9bastien Fallu, Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al.<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Fallu worries most about people who self-medicate with cannabis or alcohol. Those dependent on strong alcohol can face potentially life-threatening detoxification symptoms, meaning they have a physical need for alcohol. There are those who have an emotional need created by the ongoing crisis of COVID.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany people cope [with hardship by consuming] drugs, especially during a pandemic,\u201d shares Fallu. \u201cHealth minister Dub\u00e9 said he might make an exception for people with a physician\u2019s prescription for strong alcohol. Well, I\u2019m not sure how easy it is to see a physician and get a prescription for alcohol!\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-is-the-qu-bec-government-punishing-the-unvaccinated\">Is the Qu\u00e9bec government punishing the unvaccinated?<\/h2>\n<p>As for the goal of reducing the transmission of COVID in Qu\u00e9bec, Fallu wonders how these particular vaccine mandates will contribute to that cause. He notes shoppers at SQDC and SAQ outlets are masked and distanced, and few will be in the store for more than 10 minutes. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reason,\u201d Fallu says, \u201cis really to punish the non-vaccinated, to force them to get vaccinated, and to please the population\u2014especially CAQ voters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But how effective is coercion as a means of getting vaccine holdouts to give in and accept their jabs? Fallu has doubts that this new mandate will help cut provincial COVID numbers, now so out of control, the government has lost count.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not really sure the people who aren\u2019t already vaccinated will run to get their vaccination because they can\u2019t access cannabis or strong alcohol,\u201d Fallu says. With Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s vaccination rate at 90%, those who remain unvaccinated are likely choosing to do so or have a medical reason exempting them. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know coercion might work in a population where people already might agree [with vaccination], but you\u2019re talking about people who don\u2019t <em>want<\/em> to be vaccinated. The more we get into repression, the less effective it will be.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-qu-bec-loves-weed-the-government-not-so-much\">Qu\u00e9bec loves weed. The government? Not so much.<\/h2>\n<p>The situation is altogether different than mandatory vaccinations\u2014and Fallu worries the plan will backfire in a way that burdens the most marginalized populations in Qu\u00e9bec.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Among] people who are not vaccinated at the moment, there\u2019s an overrepresentation of poor people, marginalized people, and undereducated people,\u201d explains Fallu. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor me, this decision is a diversion from other important issues. It\u2019s a good thing for Premier Legault that people are angry at the unvaccinated\u2014because they\u2019re not looking at other important issues in the way the government has managed the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Finally, Fallu acknowledges the CAQ\u2019s deep-seated hostility to cannabis. <\/p>\n<p>When the party took power in 2018, two weeks before federal legalization, the CAQ made clear they opposed legalization, which they said ignored \u201cthe fight against cannabis\u201d and failed \u201cto limit the perverse effects of cannabis use.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The CAQ took office, moments before Canada legalized, with a regulatory framework they said, was designed to \u201cdeliberately combat the consumption of this drug [and] restrict marijuana use as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As such, Fallu suspects the CAQ was delighted to restrict access to the SQDC\u2014but at a cost.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As for mandating vaccinations for entry into stores, Fallu says \u201cthat might be part of a continuum of interventions\u2014but relying only on repression and coercion is not enough. You need many other strategies, including education and harm reduction.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"leafly-sailthru-signup p-lg my-xl bg-white rounded elevation-low border border-light-grey\">\n<p class=\"text-xs pt-lg\">By submitting this form, you will be subscribed to news and promotional emails from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\">Leafly<\/a> and you agree to Leafly&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/tos\">Terms of Service<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>. You can unsubscribe from Leafly email messages anytime.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat -->  <!--\nPerformance optimized by W3 Total Cache. Learn more: https:\/\/www.boldgrid.com\/w3-total-cache\/ Served from: _ @ 2022-01-08 02:29:19 by W3 Total Cache\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No legal weed for the unvaccinated in Qu\u00e9bec (sort of) | Leafly Link copied to your clipboard Leafly Leafly \u00ae Loading\u2026 Where are you from? Which part of Canada? Darn! You&#8217;re not old enough to use Leafly. Sorry, Leafly isn&#8217;t available in your location yet. Redirecting you to By accessing this site, you accept the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Government officials in Qu\u00e9bec are planning to refuse cannabis and alcohol sales to the unvaccinated in the province. As the omicron coronavirus variant rages across Canada, the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec (CAQ) government has yet again resorted to controversial aggressive&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marijuana_information"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/no-legal-weed-for-the-unvaccinated-in-quebec-sort-of.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}