Canada: Prime Minister Initiates Cannabis Legalization

It seems that Canada’s newly elected Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, is not wasting any time honoring a campaign promise to end marijuana prohibition all across the northern nation – putting into motion last week the necessary action to legalize a full-scale cannabis industry.

Last week, Trudeau sent a mandate letter to Justice Minister and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould asking her to meet with other members of the government to “create a federal-provincial-territorial process that will lead to the legalization and regulation of marijuana.”

This instruction suggests that Trudeau’s recent promise to bring legal weed to Canada “right away” was not an exaggeration — not that anyone doubted his intentions. In fact, his mission was clear throughout the entire campaign, by which the Liberal Party’s official political platform was rooted in a proclamation to “legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana,” in an effort to correct the current prohibitionary model.

“Canada’s current system of marijuana prohibition does not work. It does not prevent young people from using marijuana and too many Canadians end up with criminal records for possessing small amounts of the drug,” reads the party’s political statement.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to predict exactly how long it will take for Trudeau and his underlings to draft the rules for launching a nationwide cannabis trade. However, based on the sense of urgency behind the Prime Minister’s initiation of this process, we sincerely doubt he will allow lawmakers to drag their feet too long before swooping in to drop the hammer.

A few weeks ago, the latest Forum Poll said that 6-in-10 Canadians support the legalization of marijuana. Researchers suggested that while 18 percent of the population currently used marijuana, despite its illegality, 31 percent admitted that they would start smoking weed if the criminal penalties were removed. These numbers crunched with some mad science mathematics concluded that Canada’s legal pot market would be enjoyed by at least 8 million customers.

Parliament is scheduled to reconvene on December 3, so it is expected that conversations over how to make Trudeau’s vision a reality will get underway at that time.

What do you think? Do Canadians deserve access to legal cannabis? Tell us in the comments below.