New Canadian Prime Minister Plans to Legalize Marijuana ‘Right Away’

Canada’s Liberal Party emerged victorious in the election on Monday, with Justin Trudeau, who positioned his campaign on a promise to establish a nationwide cannabis industry, becoming the country’s next prime minister.

Reports indicate that the new leadership not only plans to legalize a full-scale recreational pot market, but they are planning “to get started on that right away.”

Of course, Canadian voters expect nothing less. The Liberal Party’s platform was largely based on the concept of eliminating prohibition across the country, and establishing a market similar to those seen in some U.S. states.

“We will legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana. 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.

“To ensure that we keep marijuana out of the hands of children, and the profits out of the hands of criminals, we will legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana.”

Although the United States has been considered one of the leading nations to experiment with the legalization of marijuana, Monday’s election will mark a place in the history books that will always refer to the northern nation as a leader in abolishing prohibitionary times.

“While U.S. states led the way by becoming the first places in the world to legalize and regulate marijuana in 2012,” said Tom Angell with the Marijuana Majority, “it looks like Canada could soon leapfrog ahead of us and become the first country in North America to legalize cannabis nationwide.”

For years, Canada has operated a somewhat uninspiring medical marijuana program, one that has faced some battles, including the restriction of consumption methods. But now that the new leadership is looking to “remove marijuana consumption and incidental possession from the Criminal Code” and “design a new system of strict marijuana sales and distribution, with appropriate federal and provincial excise taxes applied,” it appears that weed is about to benefit Canada in ways that U.S. citizens want desperately.

Although Trudeau did not specify exactly when he plans to get the new recreational pot market up and running, he did say it would be patterned after what is currently underway in Colorado.

What do you think? Is legal cannabis coming to Canada? Tell us in the comments below.