Immediately After Being Sworn in, the Canadian Prime Minister Has Moved to Speed up Legalisation

A few weeks ago we talked about the Justin Trudeau, the new Canadian prime minister whose election led to forecasts about important changes to the country’s cannabis policy. Users and activists hoped that the liberal would listen to their demands, as he had promised to do at different public acts, and it seems that he has not taken long to deliver on his promise.

Immediately after taking up the role, Trudeau has begun to undertake the measures needed to end prohibition. A few days ago, he sent a letter to the Minister of Justice, Jody Wilson-Raybould, expressing his intention for the Ministries of Health, Public Security, and Emergency Preparation to join forces and back a “federal-provincial-territorial” process leading to the legalisation and regulation of cannabis.

His intention is the same as his party, which believes that the current system of prohibition in Canada “does not work”, does not stop those that want to consume marijuana from doing so and means that many citizens have criminal records for possessing small quantities of the plant. In fact, in his letter the prime minister, he expressed his aim for some sentences to be revised in order to reduce the jail rate among users.

Although it is not known how long the leader and his collaborators will take to undertake a procedure that brings marijuana out into the light and move it towards legal commerce, it does not appear that it will be long. Among other reasons, this is because, according to the latest surveys, 6 out of 10 Canadians want to see the plant legalised and also want it to be sold on a market that is regulated and controlled by the Government.

As things stand, the Parliament will meet in December, therefore it is possible that among other issues, they will debate what the following steps to obtain legalisation should be. It will be necessary to wait and see how the matter develops over the next few weeks.