Official: Canada set to legalize pot by July 2018

TORONTO - Canadians should be able to smoke marijuana legally by July 1, 2018, a senior government official said Monday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government will introduce legislation to legalize recreational marijuana the week of April 10, and it should become law by July next year, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of lack of authorization to discuss the upcoming legislation.

Trudeau has long promised to legalize recreational pot use and sales. Canada would be the largest developed country to end a nationwide prohibition of recreational marijuana. In the U.S., voters in California, Massachusetts, Maine and Nevada voted last year to approve the use of recreational marijuana, joining Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska. Uruguay in South America is the only nation that has already legalized recreational pot.

Canadian Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould declined to confirm the dates provided by the official but said in a statement that the government is committed to introducing legislation this spring that would “legalize, strictly regulate and restrict access to cannabis.”

“This will be done in a careful way to keep it out of the hands of children and youth and to stop criminals from profiting,” the statement said. “In order to meet our commitment to legalize, the legislation will need to pass through the parliamentary process in a timely fashion.”

The news was noticed online by the famously pot-loving rapper Snoop Dogg, who tweeted: “Oh Canada!”

The Canadian government is expected to follow the advice of a marijuana task force headed by former Liberal Health Minister Anne McLellan, as well as the advice of former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, who is the parliamentary secretary to the justice minister. Blair has been visiting police departments across the country.