FREDERICTON -- The New Brunswick government is contributing $250,000 to a Cannabis Education and Awareness Fund and seeking members of the public to be part of an advisory committee on how the money is spent.
Recreational cannabis will be legalized later this year and Finance Minister Cathy Rogers says it's important to be socially responsible and promote harm reduction such as keeping it away from children and youth.
The province has signed agreements with four cannabis producers that will require two per cent of their gross earnings to go into the fund.
Rogers says it will be some time before they start to make sales, so government is injecting funding now so that education programs can begin.
The advisory committee will have seven members, including the chairman of the Cannabis Management Corporation and three senior civil servants, with the others coming from the public.
Rogers says the government is calling for expressions of interest from people who want to be part of the committee.
