The provincial government has announced the legal age for the purchase, possession and consumption of marijuana will be 19 which happens to be the legal age for alcohol and tobacco. It’s also the age of adulthood in the province.
The New Brunswick Working Group on the Legalization of Cannabis proposed the legal age be set at 19 to harmonize with the legal age for alcohol and tobacco. The working group considered a number of factors in its report including the high prevalence of cannabis users between the ages of 18 and 24 who may revert to the illegal market if they’re not able to buy pot.
NB Liquor, meantime, is reporting beer sales are down by 4.5 per cent or $2.9 million. The sale of wine is up by 6.9 per cent or $1.7 million. Liquor sales in the last quarter also rose by 2.9 per cent with an increase of more than $700 thousand.