If the Liberal government in Canada passes legislation to legalize recreational marijuana - as it's widely expected to do after unveiling the plan on Thursday - the drug still probably won't be available for purchase until July 2018. U.S voters in California, Massachusetts, Maine and Nevada voted past year to approve the use of recreational marijuana, joining Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska.
This will make Canada the second country to fully legalize marijuana, after Uruguay, even as the drug remains illegal under the United States' federal law. "That would've had an immediate savings for the criminal justice system and an immediate benefit for young people especially who are harmed from getting a criminal record for something that we now say shouldn't be criminal".
"We want to make it more hard for kids to access marijuana. We're going to change that", according to a tweet from his official account.
Goodale made a point of noting the existing laws remain in effect until the new legislation is formally proclaimed the law of the land.
Canadians will be allowed to carry up to 30 grams of dried cannabis for personal use, but those who sell or give marijuana to minors or who drive under its influence will face stiff penalties. Under the new regime, the federal government will license marijuana producers, while the provinces will be in charge of distributing and selling the product to Canada's adult market. A roadside saliva test would be used to determine whether a motorist had exceeded the legal limit of THC, the active compound in marijuana, in their system. Marijuana will not be sold in vending machines or other means of self-service. For instance, the minimum age for consuming alcohol varies across Canadian provinces.
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"If your objective is to protect public health and safety and keep cannabis out of the hands of minors, and stop the flow of profits to organized crime, then the law as it stands today has been an abject failure", said Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.
"Police forces spend between $2bn and $3bn every year trying to deal with cannabis, and yet Canadian teenagers are among the heaviest users in the western world. We simply have to do better".
Goodale said that Canadian officials have been in close touch with the USA government on the proposed law, and emphasized that exporting and importing marijuana will continue to be illegal. Howe Institute, Canada is set to garner approximately $675 million ($500 million US) annually in tax revenue from legal marijuana sales.
At a news conference attended by the various ministries affected by the proposed law, former Toronto police chief and current Liberal Member of Parliament Bill Blair called legalized pot a way of "protecting children and making our communities safer".
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