The federal Liberals announced a new suite of bills in the House of Commons April 13 to legalize recreational marijuana by July 1, 2018.
Under the proposed legislation, adults 18 years of age and older will be able to legally buy and cultivate small amounts of cannabis for recreational use.
“We know that criminal prohibition has failed to protect our kids and our communities,” said parliamentary secretary Bill Blair. “We need a new approach.”
The government also announced new legislation that would rework Canada’s impaired driving laws.
The new marijuana law states that adults 18 and over can posses up to 30 grams of dried cannabis in public. They will also be permitted to grow up to four plants per residence and make cannabis-containing products at home for recreational use.
Selling the drug to a minor will be a new criminal offence under the federal liberal government’s proposed new legal-pot regime.
“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,” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told a news conference.
A new framework will be introduced to regulate the production, sale, distribution and possession of marijuana.
