In Quebec, alcohol and cannabis yes, but only for the vaccinated.
To encourage people reluctant to get vaccinated against COVID to do so, Quebec is banning unvaccinated people from stores selling alcoholic beverages and cannabis. Hard hit by the Omicron wave, the province in eastern Canada is thus making it compulsory to show a vaccine passport to enter certain stores. With Covid-related hospitalizations constantly rising, will this measure change the game?
Covid and vaccination in Quebec
Since the various vaccines were put on the market, the Quebec Immunization Program has been responsible for ensuring the proper distribution of vaccine doses to people wishing to protect themselves against Covid-19. As of January 17, 2022, 85.2% of Quebecers had received at least one dose. Despite this, the health system is still under severe strain, and hospitalizations keep rising. The province's Health Minister, Christian Dubé, even spoke of a "real tidal wave". Faced with the difficulties of the health care system in coping with such an influx of patients, Quebec has tightened health restrictions since late December:
- A night-time curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
- The closure of bars, restaurants, movie theaters and gyms
- The closure of schools and universities
- A ban on private gatherings.
To these measures aimed at slowing the epidemic, the government has now added a ban on access to stores selling cannabis and alcohol for people unable to show full vaccination status. The Health Minister thus hopes to push the remaining 15% of holdouts, through constraint, to change their minds about the vaccine.
Quebec and cannabis.
Since June 12, 2018, and the adoption of Bill 157 by the province's National Assembly, the sale and consumption of recreational cannabis have been legal in the province, but subject to strict conditions:
- The minimum age to buy cannabis is 21, compared with 18 for buying alcohol.
- Only the Société québécoise du cannabis is authorized to sell cannabis in the territory.
- A Quebecer may not carry more than 30 grams in a public place.
- At home, the maximum quantity of cannabis is 150 grams, regardless of the number of occupants.
In 2021, nearly 20% of Quebecers had used cannabis in the previous 12 months. But by far the most widely used psychoactive substance in the province is alcohol, with 81% of people over 12 saying they had drunk it at least once over the same period. It seems very difficult to determine the number of unvaccinated people in this population. Future studies may tell us whether or not this new crackdown has convinced many of these people.
