Cannabis in British Columbia
Cannabis in British Columbia (BC) relates to a number of legislative, legal, and cultural events surrounding the use and cultivation of cannabis in the Canadian province of British Columbia. As with the rest of Canada, cannabis became legalized on 17 October 2018, following the enactment of the Cannabis Act, or Bill C-45. Prior to that, though the drug was illegal in Canada (with exceptions for medical use), its recreational use was often tolerated and was more commonplace in the province of BC as compared to most of the rest of the country. The province's inexpensive hydroelectric power and abundance of water and sunshine—in addition to the many hills and forests (which aided stealth outdoor growing during prohibition)—made it an ideal cannabis growing area. The British Columbia cannabis industry is worth an estimated CA$2 billion annually and produces 36.6 percent of all Canadian cannabis. The province is also the home of the cannabis activist and businessman Marc Emery. Usage A 2004 study by the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University found that 53 percent of BC residents had tried cannabis at least once. As of 2004, in Vancouver, there were several cannabis coffee shops where cannabis was smoked openly (but