Canada’s marijuana legalization plan designed to reduce criminal role in market
The Trudeau government is pitching its plan as highly restrictive, designed for the sole purpose of reducing the role of criminal organizations in the marijuana market and limiting the availability of the drug to youth
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Stating that 94 years of prohibition were an "abject failure," the federal government has tabled long-awaited legislation to legalize marijuana for adult Canadians at the same time as toughening up the Criminal Code to crack down on dealers targeting minors and those getting behind the wheel while high. The historic legislation would lift the prohibition on the recreational use of cannabis that goes back to 1923, positioning Canada as a leading country on the relaxation of illicit-drug laws. If adopted as planned by the summer of 2018, Canada will become the first G7 country – and the second in the world after Uruguay – in which cannabis use is legal across the land. (See also: Ottawa still facing obstacles on road to legalizing marijuana | Read the proposed cannabis act legislation)
