O Cannabis! Canada Moves to Legalize It

On June 7, 2018, the Canadian Senate voted 56-30 to approve Bill C-45, which will legalize recreational cannabis at the federal level.  The House of Commons had already passed it, and while the House must now decide whether to approve or reject the several amendments added on by the Senate, it is basically a done deal at this point, and will soon be heading to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's desk.  And he will almosy certainly sign it into law, as after all the basic tenets of this bill were largely his very own brainchild.  Thus, it is now virtually certain at this point that Canada will become the world's first highly developed nation (and second nation overall after Uruguay in 2014) to fully legalize cannabis for all uses at the national level.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

And Canada's model for legalization would in fact be superior to those of several US States in several ways:

• The age limit at the federal level will be 18, and at the provincial level will be 18 or 19, depending on the province, just like the drinking age. (In contrast, all US States that have legalized it set the age limit at 21.)
• Penalties for underage possession would likely be just a modest civil citation/ticket (though that will be up to the provinces).  (Unfortunately, in some US States it is still a criminal offense if "underage")
• Penalties for sharing small amounts (such as passing a joint) with someone below the age limit but close in age would also likely be a modest civil citation/ticket rather than a criminal offense.  (Unlike the USA)
• Taxes would start out quite low, to avoid perversely incentivizing the black market to linger around after legalization. (The opposite is true in many US States.)
• The threat of excessively strict "local option" resulting in vast swaths of territory where cannabis cannot be bought and sold legally at all would essentially not exist in Canada.  (Unlike some US States)
• And they added an amendment that would provide better safeguards against organized crime as well.

That said, their model is not completely flawless.  For example, the federal limit for home growing is a mere four plants per dwelling at any given time, with a height restriction, and provinces would have the right to ban home growing entirely if they so choose.  We think a limit of six plants per person and twelve plants per dwelling would be better, and that only densely populated areas with dispensaries fairly close by should be allowed to ban home growing if they so choose (though hopefully no such bans).  Also, First Nations (Indigenous) reserves, though currently allowed to locally ban or heavily restrict alcohol, appear to have no such latitude when it comes to cannabis (though we feel they should on their own land), and the issue of tax-sharing with the tribes needs to be ironed out as well--though the First Nations lobby ultimately dropped the initial opposition to the bill.  But these flaws, along with some more trivial ones, can be resolved later.  Otherwise, this is a good bill overall, and one major step closer to Reefer Sanity for a change.

We here in the USA can certainly learn a lot from our friendly neighbor to the north.  And that is true for both alcohol and cannabis.  They certainly don't seem to be too keen on repeating our mistakes.

UPDATE:  As of June 20, 2018, just in time for Canada Day (July 1), the bill has officially passed in its final form.  The official start date for legalization, though, will be October 17, 2018, to give the provinces more time to prepare.  Better late than never.