TORONTO: The Canadian government said Wednesday it will soon announce the date when cannabis will become legal — but warned it will remain illegal until then.
The Senate gave final passage to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s bill to legalize cannabis on Tuesday. But Canadians will have to wait at least a couple of months to legally buy marijuana. The country will become the second in the world to make pot legal nationwide.
“The legislation is transformative,” said Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, adding it “marks a wholesale shift in how our country approaches cannabis, leaving behind a failed model of prohibition.”
The federal government said provincial and territorial governments will need eight to 12 weeks following Senate passage and royal assent to prepare for retail sales. Legal sales are expected to start sometime in early or mid-September.
Wilson-Raybould suggested Trudeau could announce the legalization date as soon as later Wednesday, when the prime minister has an end-of-Parliament session press conference.
“The law still remains the law,” Wilson-Raybould said. “I urge all Canadians to continue to follow the existing law until the Cannabis Act comes into force.”
Canada is following the lead of Uruguay in allowing a nationwide, legal marijuana market, although each Canadian province is working up its own rules for pot sales. The federal government and the provinces also still need to publish regulations that will govern the cannabis trade.
Many questions remain unanswered, including how police will test motorists suspect of driving under the influence, what to do about those with prior marijuana convictions and just how the rules governing home cultivation will work.
The Canadian provinces of Quebec and Manitoba have already decided to ban home-grown pot, even though the federal bill specifies that individuals can grow up to four plants per dwelling.
“Provinces can set their own laws. If individuals are challenging that law, they can challenge it,” Wilson-Raybould said.
Former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, who is the parliamentary secretary to the justice minister, said discussions for pardons of past convictions “can’t take place” until legalization is in effect.
In the neighboring US, nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana. California, home to one in eight Americans, launched the United States’ biggest legal marijuana marketplace on Jan 1.
Canada to announce marijuana legalization date soon
Canada to announce marijuana legalization date soon
- Canada is following the lead of Uruguay in allowing a nationwide, legal marijuana market
- Nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana in the US
Greece warns shipping fleet of risks after Black Sea drone attacks
- Greek-operated ships are among the world’s largest fleets of tankers and are pivotal for trade across the Black Sea region
- War insurance costs for ships sailing to the Black Sea have jumped this week
ATHENS: Greece has warned its shipping fleet to review their security measures when sailing to Russian Black Sea ports after drone attacks on two Greek-operated tankers this week, according to shipping ministry adviseries.
Drones struck two oil tankers on Tuesday, including one chartered by US oil major Chevron, as they sailed toward a Black Sea terminal on Russia’s Black Sea coast.
Greek-operated ships are among the world’s largest fleets of tankers and are pivotal for trade across the Black Sea region, whose waters are shared by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania and Turkiye, as well as warring Russia and Ukraine.
“It is recommended that the security managers of shipping companies, the masters and the security officers of Greek ships proceed with an updated threat assessment for commercial ships located in the Black Sea and the maritime areas close to it,” the shipping ministry said in one of the documents seen by Reuters that were issued after the attacks.
War insurance costs for ships sailing to the Black Sea have jumped this week, reflecting the worsening risk environment.
One of the tankers targeted on Tuesday was Matilda, which was managed by Greece’s Thenamaris and hit by two drones.
While there were no injuries or serious damage to the vessel, a Thenamaris official said that the company had since then stepped up additional precautionary security measures and advised crew on their vessels to increase vigilance and avoid unnecessary exposure, mainly movement on the deck.
The ministry referred shipping companies to an earlier document published in April 2022 that recommended that additional protective security measures be maintained for a certain period as a result of increased risk for the Russian Black Sea ports of Novorossiysk, Taman, Tuapse and Kavkaz.
