Ever since Justin Trudeau, the much adored celebrity-Prime Minister of Canada promised to legalize cannabis in Canada during the last elections, we were all a little bit skeptical.
Many of us had the “sure Justin, you’re just saying that to seem even more cool” mentality, even after Justin was officially elected. Yes, we hoped the new Prime Minister would actually get around to legalizing marijuana, we just didn’t think it would happen so soon.
It’s time to rejoice people of Canada, because in a public mandate letter sent to Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould, Justin Trudeau officially demanded for the legalization of cannabis. Well, for the process to getting marijuana legalized, at least.
While the entire letter is quite long, with many important points and initiatives outlined by the Prime Minister of Canada, the “top priority” most relevant to anyone reading this article goes as follows, as Justin asks the Minister of Justice to begin:
“Working with the Ministers of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and Health, create a federal-provincial-territorial process that will lead to the legalization and regulation of marijuana.”
Now, even though this is pretty great news, we have to keep our enthusiasm at a minimum for the moment. Trudeau has only mandated to create a “process” that will eventually lead to legal cannabis in Canada. The mechanics of said process and exactly how long it may take remains to be seen.
We also don’t really know what a system of legalized marijuana will look like in the nation either, but we do have a pretty good idea. Given that Trudeau went on the record saying that Canada may look towards the Colorado model, we can surmise that similar rules and regulations will be applied here. For more on the topic, read our previous feature on legal cannabis in Canada here.