By Steven Voser


In 2018, it seemed Canada was to become cannabis Mecca. But a year following legalization, The Great White North has far from perfected its approach to legal weed. Read on for our full review of legal weed in Canada.

CANADA AND CANNABIS: ONE YEAR LATER

On October 17th, 2018, Canada became the second country in the world, and the first G7 and G20 nation, to fully legalize and regulate cannabis. And while Canada might be the envy of cannabis users the world over, the road to legalization was pretty rocky.

After being elected Prime Minister in 2015, Justin Trudeau created the Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation to begin the process of analyzing and discussing a way to create a legal and regulated market for cannabis. Trudeau’s main reasons for legalizing weed in Canada were to combat the “criminal elements” involved in the illegal trade of cannabis and to better protect minors “from the easy access they have right now to marijuana”.

After announcing his plans for legalizing cannabis in 2016, a number of illegal dispensaries popped up around the country. In response, Trudeau urged police to enforce the law and prosecute businesses or individuals growing and producing cannabis prior to legalization, resulting in a number of raids and prosecutions.

Finally, cannabis became legal in Canada on October 17, 2018 under the Cannabis Act. The act detailed strict regulations of who can buy and sell cannabis, and gave provincial and First Nations governments a number of freedoms for governing the distribution of weed themselves.

HOW HAS CANNABIS LEGALIZATION CHANGED ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR?

In order to track the effects of legalization, the Canadian government released its first National Cannabis Survey in 2019.

The study highlights a number of changes since legalization, including a rise in the number of people consuming cannabis. Statistics Canada suggests that some of these new users were first-time users, while others were former users who tried cannabis again following legalization. Most of these new users were older, with half aged over 45 years.

The study also showed that legalization didn’t increase the number of underage people consuming cannabis, nor the number of people driving impaired under the influence of weed (two major concerns among prohibitionists opposing legalization). In fact, the National Cannabis Survey showed that, in many aspects, cannabis use across Canada remained unchanged following legalization.

In general, the effects of legalizing weed in Canada have been overwhelmingly positive. First and foremost, the move to legalize cannabis created a billion-dollar industry. In the first two weeks following legalization, Canadian cannabis sales were already worth over $43 million.

Over the first 10 months following legalization, the legal cannabis industry in the country grew by over 185%. In Q1 and Q2 of 2019, the industry contributed over $8 billion to the country’s GDP, and expert economists estimated the new industry could come to be worth up to $20 billion. Canada is also home to some of the biggest cannabis companies in the world, including Canopy Growth Corp (market cap $12.4 billion), Aurora Cannabis ($10.61 billion), and Aphria Inc. ($3.64 billion).

WHAT POSITIVE IMPACTS HAS LEGAL CANNABIS HAD ON CANADA?

Arguably the biggest benefit of legalizing cannabis in Canada is its effect on organized crime. By tightly regulating the market for cannabis, the Canadian government has stopped prosecuting citizens for possessing and consuming cannabis (a drug with fewer serious health risks than alcohol or tobacco) while taking millions of dollars out of the hands of criminal organizations.

While Canada definitely seems light-years ahead of other Western nations in its stance on cannabis, its approach to legalization is far from perfect.

One thing that sets Canada behind, for example, is its stance on some cannabis derivatives. For the entire first year of legalization, Canadians had no access to cannabis edibles or topicals. These products were legalized on October 17, 2019, but still haven’t hit the shelves in some places. At the time of writing this article, the Ontario Cannabis Store only stocks a single edible product.

Another major problem of Canada’s system concerns accessibility; Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, is completely void of retail cannabis stores. Instead, Ontarians have to order their weed online from the Ontario Cannabis Store, which has a notoriously bad reputation for high prices, delayed shipping, and extremely dry flower. With the only retailer in the province providing that kind of service, the black market for cannabis isn’t going anywhere.

Canada’s decision to legalize weed was one of the first of its kind. However, its approach is still far from perfect. In some provinces, Canadians are still eagerly awaiting edibles and topicals to become available, and the entire province of Ontario still has to buy its weed from one very poorly performing online store.

Nonetheless, we do have to praise Canada for making the decision to legalize cannabis on a federal level, something no other Western country has done yet. And, thanks to its efforts, cannabis use is finally starting to be destigmatised in one of the largest nations in the world.

DisclaimerIt’s no secret that humans have a huge impact on the planet. While smoking cannabis often draws us closer to nature, it can also cause us to accidentally (or intentionally) contribute to this mess.

At Royal Queen Seeds, we encourage you to leave no trace. Whether you’re camping in the woods, chilling on the beach, or enjoying time at your local park, always take your rubbish home with you.

Also, consider fire risks; never flick burning ash onto areas of dry vegetation.

Stay Cultivated.

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: