This should be the last 4/20 Day where marijuana is not legal in Canada. There have been some bumps and bruises along the way with the unelected Canadian Senate to passing C-45, the marijuana legalization bill.
The final vote is scheduled in the Canadian Senate on or before June 7. Given the tone and pace of the Senate, you can count on June 7 being the date. A passed bill does not mean instant legal marijuana.
- Governor General Julie Payette has to sign the bill by royal assent to make the law legal.
- Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor has said there will be a transition of 8-12 weeks after royal assent to get the retail system going.
- The bill will likely stipulate that the law needs a fixed date to come into force.
So that date will be sometime in summer 2018 but no specifics yet.
Canada goal: Legal marijuana by Canada Day 2018
What a Justin Trudeau government might mean to the United States
Canadians need to be smart if coming to Washington state for pot
Conservative senators have said they need answers to pass C-45. They are getting answers but not ones they like from the Trudeau Government. A trio of Conservative senators made their way to Washington earlier this month to get what they say are answers they aren't getting in Canada.
Canadian Conservative Senators Denise Batters, Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, and Claude Carignan made the trip to find out about the impact legalization will have on the Canada-U.S. relationship. Such a trip would be elaborate to interview pro- and anti-legalization people. Who are we kidding: they went to visit Donald Trump people.
"Canadians have reasons to be worried!" the senators said in the statement. They would know this even if they never left Canada.
There will be issues for Canadians coming to the United States but they won't be much different than the issues they have now in crossing the border. Canadians often get asked if they have ever taken drugs and some Canadians know that they can be denied entry into the United States for any admitted past drug use.
The conservative senators also talked to Jeff Sessions, the most paranoid public person on marijuana. This is like being scared and talking to someone who will scare you and then saying, "see, I told you I had a reason to be scared."
This Washington trip came shortly after the close vote of the second reading of the bill. The fear was there might not be enough votes to keep the debate going. The Trudeau Government had to rally Liberal and independent senators to make sure they were there for the March 22 vote.
None of this has to do with the autonomy of Canada to pass its own laws without permission of a neighboring country.
CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage
CanadianCrossing.com Canadian society coverage
In an environment where former Speaker of the House John Boehner — a Republican — has joined the board of a cannabis company, this international crisis talk might seem a little silly. After all, several states have done what Canada is trying to do.
There is a considerable amount of power in the hands of those fighting this losing battle on the U.S. side. There are enough Senate votes to pass C-45 assuming the amendments don't go too far with the bill.
Canadians have legitimate questions: toking-and-driving; limited availability (we're looking at you, Ontario); edibles; cross-border traffic and customs. Most of the discussion has been about delay instead of addressing those issues.
We should point out that the June 7 date for the final vote is the same day as the Ontario election that might be won by Doug Ford, an alleged drug trafficker.
Canada Day 2018 will be toke-free but Canada won't be that way for much longer.
photo credit: me
Comments