Canadian Government's Cannabis Legislation Challenged by Opposition

There’s always plenty to talk about in the cannabis space–even more so now that the Canadian government officially unveiled its plans to legalize it by July 1, 2018.
Still–it’s not all buds and roses, at least not right now, as the Federal government’s opposition–the Conservatives and even the NDP–have posed questions regarding some of the legislations the government is seeking.
As reported by the Financial Post, the government is seeking to put in place a marijuana tracking system that will gather information about the product from licensed producers, distributors and retailers. The publication further states that Health Canada said the system won’t track individual cannabis users, but will permit businesses and regulators to trace products and address recalls.
In a statement, Health Canada said specifics of the system still need to be worked out, but that similar ones have been put in place in the US for getting information on marijuana products.
“Mandatory product track-and-trace systems are common features in other jurisdictions that have legalized cannabis for non-medical purposes,” the department said. Health Canada added no cost for the proposed tracking system has been decided on, at least not yet, just the intention that the costs will be offset by licensing and other fees.
This is where the Conservative party is critical–and the NDP.

“They want to put a pot registry in, but they are not telling us about how much it is going to cost,” Conservative health critic Colin Carrie was quoted as saying by CTV News. “It is just basically more shady behaviour when it comes to this file.”
Alistair MacGregor, the NDP justice critic, was “surprised” the government hasn’t offered more information.
“On the day this bill was announced, they did bring out the minister of national revenue,” MacGregor was quoted as saying. “One of the biggest questions we have is the cost of implementing not just this registry but all of the enforcement measures; How much of this is going to be downloaded on to the provinces?”
Following the Conservative party and NDP’s critics, a number of cannabis stocks have fluctuated in terms of price: shares of top seed, Canopy Growth (TSX:WEED), have seen a 0 percent increase and remain at $9.87; Aurora Cannabis (TSXV:ACB) are up 1.1 percent to $2.76; Maple Leaf Green World is up 1.69 percent to $0.60, while InvictusMD (TSXV:IMH) is down 2.9 percent to $2.01.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Jocelyn Aspa, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article. 
Editorial Disclosure: Maple Leaf Green World and InvictusMD are clients of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid for content.