Manitobans may finally be able to grow cannabis at home beginning in 2025, according to a new announcement from the provincial government.
In an email to the Winnipeg Free Press on September 25, Manitoba Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said the provincial government is in the process of drafting the regulations for a bill passed in June.
“The (Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority) is drafting regulations to ensure the framework for growing cannabis at home prioritizes public safety, with a focus on protecting youth and ensuring cannabis plants are not accessible to young people,” the minister’s email said.
The provincial government is expected to post the proposed regulations by the end of 2024 to allow time for public feedback. This is a change in the plans announced in June when a source with the Manitoba government told StratCann that such rules would be expected to be in place by November 2024.
When the bill was being debated in Manitoba parliament earlier this year, the Progressive Conservative opposition brought up concerns that they were passing a bill that had not yet been written. Only once the regulations are finalized will people in Manitoba be able to grow up to four plants at home.
Specifics such as where plants can be grown on a person’s property are still unknown.
“Who will monitor these grows, and who will monitor the sale of the seeds to produce these cannabis products?” asked PC MLA for Brandon West Wayne Balcaen when the bill was debated earlier this year.
The penalty in Manitoba for growing cannabis at home is currently a $2,542 fine, as well as up to a year in prison and forfeiture of personal property.
Manitoba and Quebec are the only two provinces to ban growing cannabis at home. In April of this year, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld Quebec’s ban on home-grown cannabis, ruling that the province has the authority to enforce such a ban, even in the face of federal rules allowing up to four plants per household.
