Canada has followed in Uruguay’s footsteps by legalising recreational marijuana
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has achieved one of his promises from the 2015 election campaign, with the leader of the governing Liberal Party legalising cannabis for the very first time in Canada.
Cannabis possession became a crime in 1923, but Trudeau argued that the almost century-old law was ineffectual, given that the country remains one of the world’s heaviest recreational users of the drug.
The first gram of cannabis was bought legally at midnight on Wednesday, on the eastern island of Newfoundland. Unsurprisingly, there was quite a queue, as hundreds of Canadians flocked to purchase weed legally for the very first time.
Medical use of the drug has been legal in the country since 2001, with the legislation intended to keep minors from purchasing the drug and profits away from dealers.
The government predicts it will raise $400m a year in tax revenues on the sale of cannabis but concerns remain over the country’s preparation for the event.
Police forces will have to tackle increased incidents of drug-impaired driving, whilst analysts predict the country will face a shortage of the drug in the law’s first year of implementation.
Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalise cannabis five years ago in 2013, whilst nine US states have also legalised recreational use: Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. Portugal and the Netherlands (obviously) have also decriminalised the drug.
