There's nothing in Bill C-45 that makes it legal for a young person to possess cannabis. We did, in developing the cannabis bill, have discussions around ensuring that we find some balance, recognizing that the ultimate objective of our legislation, of course, is to legalize, strictly regulate, and restrict access to keep it out of the hands of children and the proceeds out of the hands of criminals.
In having discussions around penalizing young people for possessing small amounts of marijuana, we sought to recognize and balance the ultimate objective that we are trying to achieve, along with ensuring that we do not criminalize young people for possession, which would lead to criminal records, but we are working very closely with the provinces and territories to see them move forward with regulation and laws similar to those for alcohol.