Nearly a century of marijuana prohibition came to an end yesterday as Canada became the first major Western nation to legalize and regulate its sale and recreational use.
The change was praised by cannabis enthusiasts and investors in a budding industry that has seen pot stocks soar on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges, but sharply questioned by some health professionals and opposition politicians.
“We’re not legalizing cannabis because we think it’s good for our health. We’re doing it because we know it’s not good for our children,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on the eve of the reform. “We know we need to do a better job to protect our children and to eliminate or massively reduce the profits that go to organized crime.”
Warning: Smoking can damage your healthPhoto: AP
The Cannabis Act, which fulfills a promise Trudeau made in the 2015 election campaign, makes Canada only the second nation after Uruguay to legalize the drug.
Its implementation would be scrutinized and dissected by Canadians ahead of an election next year, as well as other nations that the prime minister has said could follow suit if the measure proves a success.
Trudeau himself admitted in 2013 to having smoked pot five or six times in his life, including at a dinner party with friends after being elected to parliament.
He has also said that his late brother, Michel, was facing marijuana possession charges for a “tiny amount” of cannabis before his death in an avalanche in 1998 and that this influenced his decision to propose legalizing cannabis.
However, Trudeau’s office said the prime minister “does not plan on purchasing or consuming cannabis once it is legalized.”
In total, Statistics Canada says 5.4 million Canadians would buy cannabis from legal dispensaries this year — about 15 percent of the population. About 4.9 million already smoke.
Stores in St John’s in the Atlantic island province of Newfoundland were due to open their doors to pot enthusiasts as of 12:01am yesterday.
“I’m going to have a lot more variety than the black market dealers, so you have a lot more choice at our store. The prices are very comparable,” THC Distribution owner Thomas Clarke told Canadian Broadcasting Corp just prior to the big event.
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