Canada lawmakers OK bill to fully legalize pot
TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that marijuana will be legal nationwide on Oct. 17.
Trudeau said in Parliament that the government is committed to better protecting Canada’s youth and hopes to take money away from organized crime.
The Senate on Tuesday gave final passage to Trudeau’s bill to legalize cannabis. The country will become the world’s second to make pot legal nationwide.
“It is our hope as of October 17 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.
The federal government had said provincial and territorial governments will need eight to 12 weeks after Senate passage and royal assent to prepare for retail sales. Trudeau spokesman Eleanore Catenaro said officials listened to the provinces that asked for more time to be able to prepare and implement the law.
“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.
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.
Many questions remain unanswered, including how police will test motorists suspected of driving under the influence and what to do about those with previous marijuana convictions.
Former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, who is the parliamentary secretary to the justice minister, said discussions for pardons of past convictions “can’t take place” until legalization is in effect.
The Senate voted 52-29 in favor of a revised bill from the elected House of Commons, and there were two abstentions. The House version accepted some earlier Senate amendments, while rejecting one calling for further restrictions on people growing plants in their homes.
Sen. Andre Pratte said it wasn’t worth creating a political crisis to hold up the legislation over homegrown plants.
The Canadian provinces of Quebec and Manitoba have already decided to ban homegrown pot, even though the federal bill specifies that individuals can grow up to four plants per dwelling.
Conservative senators raised other concerns, such as slower U.S. border crossings, that kept the bill in the upper house for about seven months. Trudeau countered those concerns with arguments that a regulated market will strip profits from criminal gangs and reduce youth consumption.