A History of Cannabis in Canada
Cannabis evolved over 21 million years ago, with the earliest DNA samples of the plant dating back as far as 27 million years ago.
The earliest cultivations of the plant were used for fishing lines and nets. By
1753 Swedish Botanist, Carl Linnaeus, identified Cannabis Sativa.
In 1785 Jean-Baptiste Lamarck identified Cannabis Indica as a second species.
A third species was found later called Cannabis Ruderalis, a low THC cannabis plant that many consider a sub species of the Sativa Cannabis plant.
England and France discovered Cannabis largely through their colonies, where they learned that Cannabis had been used for medicinal purposes for hundreds of years.
Prescriptions for Cannabis based medicines peak in North America, between 1890 and 1920.
The decline initially started due to the rise in synthetic medicines such as aspirin.
Inconsistent potency led to too weak Cannabis preparations and by 1923 Cannabis was added to the Confidential Restricted List under the Narcotics Drug Act Amendment Bill in Canada.
By the 1960s the view on Cannabis was changing, head lined by the hippie movement, promoting peace, love and drugs, as a way for people to turn war into peace.
In the 1990s research was being conducted across North America on the benefits of Cannabis in patients of long term diseases and in 1999, two patients were given the okay by the federal government to consume Cannabis for medical purposes .
The Liberal Party of Canada proposed legalization of Cannabis in 2012 by party leader Justin Trudeau.
On April 13, 2017 Bill C-45 also known as the Cannabis Act was introduced to Parliament allowing national use of Cannabis by people 19 and older, and the possession of 30 grams.
The Bill was passed in the Canadian House of Commons and Senate on June 7, 2018, and on October 17, 2018 Cannabis was legalized on a Federal level across Canada.
The first year of legalization was made intentionally slow with the available products being limited to dried flower, tinctures and capsules.
On October 17, 2019 we saw the start of Cannabis 2.0 which legalized edibles, beverages, vapes, topicals and extracts.