Canada Is Legalizing Weed

According to Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY; Canada’s government is poised to approve sweeping cannabis legalization as soon as this week and could launch marijuana sales by late summer.

The Canadian Senate, the members of which are appointed rather than elected, is likely to OK a  legalization measure Thursday after years of quiet study and discussion. After House approval, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government expects to launch legal sales as soon as 10 to 12 weeks from now.

Canada’s approach differs from that taken in the USA, where nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis, but there hasn't been a substantive national discussion about the widely used drug. As part of legalization, the Canadian government will probably inform citizens that admitting to marijuana use might get them barred from crossing the border into the USA, which classifies cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug with "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse," according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

“We’ve very much learned from the early mistakes made by some U.S. states and other jurisdictions,” said Canadian Sen. Tony Dean, an independent who sponsored the bill in the Senate. “We know we have a national challenge with cannabis. We have some of the highest youth consumption rates in the world, an illegal cannabis market worth upward of $6 billion annually, we know it’s harmful for kids, especially younger kids … and we had a government that wanted to tackle those issues.”

Trudeau and his Liberal Party included marijuana legalization as part of their 2015 campaign, and his government has worked toward creating a structure for recreational cannabis sales and consumption since taking office. Medical marijuana has been legal in Canada since 2001, and many U.S.-based cannabis companies have jockeyed for position in that market with an eye toward broader legalization