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By LegalMatters Staff • Specialty stores known as head shops openly sell drug paraphernalia including rolling papers and water pipes used to smoke cannabis, crack and other drugs. Some have colourful logos, celebrity images or designs such as smiley faces.
These businesses operate legally across Canada, but there are limitations, says Ottawa criminal lawyer Céline Dostaler.
“It is not a criminal offence to possess drug paraphernalia in Canada. However, some municipalities have bylaws dealing with how they are used,” she says, “For example, it is illegal to use or display drug paraphernalia in a park or any public place in Kingston, with offenders facing a $200 fine.”
Dostaler said people can also be charged if they bring drug paraphernalia into the United States, with that crime carrying a maximum sentence of three years in a U.S. correctional facility.
“Up until 2018, it was illegal to import or export drug paraphernalia, or literature related to drug use, in and out of Canada,” she explains. “After the Cannabis Act was introduced that year, legalizing the sale of cannabis through licenced retailers, that law was struck down.”
If police see drug paraphernalia in plain view during a traffic stop, they may have reasonable and probable grounds to believe there are illegal drugs in your possession, Dostaler says.
“They can then demand to search your car or home since it is probable that drugs or other evidence would be removed if they first had to obtain a warrant,” she notes.
