TORONTO: Canada’s government said Tuesday it would study a federal task force’s recommendation that Canadians over 18 years old be allowed to buy marijuana for recreational purposes and would announce new laws in the spring for legalizing pot.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has long promised to legalize recreational pot use and sales. If the legislation passes, Canada would be the largest developed country to end prohibition of recreational marijuana. In the United States, voters in California, Massachusetts, Maine and Nevada voted Nov. 8 to approve the use of recreational marijuana, joining Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska, where it was previously legalized. Uruguay in South America is the only nation to legalize recreational pot.
The marijuana task force, headed by former Canadian Health Minister Anne McLellan, recommended that adults be allowed to carry up to 30 grams of pot for recreational purpose and grow up to four plants. It also recommended that higher-potency pot be taxed at a higher rate than weaker strains. It also said recreational marijuana should not be sold in the same location as alcohol or tobacco. Under the proposals, alcohol-free cannabis lounges would be allowed.
The panel’s report noted public health experts tend to favor a minimum age of 21 as the brain continues to develop to about 25, but said setting the minimum age too high would preserve the illicit market. It said Canadian youth have higher rates of cannabis use than their peers worldwide.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions to be the next U.S. attorney general has raised fears among supporters of legalized marijuana that the new administration could crack down on weed-tolerant states.
Meanwhile, in Mexico, the Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a bill approving the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, the latest in a series of legal changes and court rulings that have somewhat relaxed cannabis laws. The legislation now goes to the lower Chamber of Deputies for consideration.