It seems even with the kinds of restrictions in place for legal marijuana, it isn't hard for teenagers to dodge those rules and get their hands on legal pot.
La Presse put those restrictions to the test on legalization day, Oct. 17, by getting a 16-year-old boy to order products on the Société Québécoise du Cannabis web site, and then having him pick them up at a postal counter, without any problem at all.
The online news outlet reports the boy went online to purchase two pre-rolled joints from the SQDC. The web site greets you with an age verification screen, which asks you for your birth date. Naturally, the boy lied — punching in 1999 instead of 2002.
Obviously, for just about every online purchase you make, you have to have a credit card in your name. The boy didn't have one, but he managed to "borrow" one from an older relative to complete his order.
Six days later, the package arrived at the north-end Montreal address the boy entered. The Canada Post worker asked for the boy to come sign for the package. When the worker was told the boy wasn't there, La Presse reports the post office employee said the customer absolutely has to sign for the package, and show an ID card proving his age.
The letter carrier then left a card directing him to a nearby postal counter.
A few days later, the 16-year-old went to the counter, and was asked for a piece of ID. The boy provided a health insurance card, but the counter person apparently failed to notice his 2002 birth date, and handed him his pre-rolled joints, without any other questions.
La Presse notes the boy didn't keep or use the goods.
An SQDC spokesperson called the episode "unacceptable", noting that everyone involved, including SQDC employees and postal workers, should understand the importance of following the rules.
Meanwhile, in Ottawa, federal health minister Ginette Petitpas-Taylor is also used the word "unacceptable" to describe the La Presse experiment, and would take steps to ensure something similar won't be allowed to happen again.
Petitpas-Taylor, who helped formulate the Trudeau government's pot strategy, says her goal with legalization was, and remains, keeping cannabis out of the hands of minors.