Trudeau: Canada to legalize marijuana on Oct. 17
TORONTO (AP) — Marijuana will be legal nationwide in Canada starting Oct. 17 in a move that should take market share away from organized crime and protect the country’s youth, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday.
The Senate gave final passage to the bill to legalize cannabis on Tuesday, legislation that will make Canada only the second country in the world to make pot legal across the country.
Trudeau said provincial and territorial governments need the time to prepare for retail sales.
“It is our hope as of Oct. 17 that there will be a smooth operation of retail cannabis outlets operated by the provinces with an online mail delivery system operated by the provinces that will ensure that this happens in an orderly fashion,” Trudeau said.
The prime minister said at a news conference that the goal is to take a significant part of the market share away from organized crime.
“Over the following months and indeed years we will completely replace or almost completely replace the organized crime market on that,” he said.
Canada is following the lead of Uruguay in allowing a nationwide, legal marijuana market, although each Canadian province is working up its own rules for pot sales. The federal government and the provinces also still need to publish regulations that will govern the cannabis trade.
“The legislation is transformative,” said Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, adding it “marks a wholesale shift in how our country approaches cannabis, leaving behind a failed model of prohibition.”
She urged Canadians to follow the existing law until the Cannabis Act comes into force.
“The law still remains the law,” Wilson-Raybould said.