Weed Feed: Canada Edition

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WEED FEED / John Ross Ferrara / Monday, June 25, 2018 @ 8:14 a.m.

Weed Feed: Canada Edition

Canada’s federal government discussing the bill earlier this year.

Canada is officially the second country to pass a bill legalizing marijuana nationwide.

The Canadian Senate passed the federal bill last week with a vote of 52-29. The New York Times reports that the bill still needs to be approved by the governor-general — a representative of Queen Elizabeth — but that this step is only a formality in Canadian government.

Oh, Canada | Graphic by John Ferrara.

“We’ve just witnessed a historic vote for Canada, the end of 90 years of prohibition,” Canadian Senator Tony Dean, who sponsored the bill, is quoted as saying in the NYT.

Canada’s provincial governments will now spend the next eight to 12 weeks working out retail logistics before the new law officially goes into effect.

“It’s been too easy for our kids to get marijuana - and for criminals to reap the profits,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted last Tuesday. “Today, we change that. Our plan to legalize & regulate marijuana just passed the Senate. #PromiseKept.”

Meanwhile, in the U.S. — where nine states and Washington D.C. have legalized recreational marijuana, and 30 allow for medical use — there is a strong push in the Senate to pass the States Act, a newly introduced bill that would end America’s marijuana prohibition.

Besides Canada, Uruguay is the only other country to have legalized marijuana at the federal level.

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The Weed Feed is a weekly column written by John Ross Ferrara.

The Weed Feed is a one-stop shop for the best local and national cannabis news.

Each week, original content will be posted to the page, as well as various other stories from around the country.

These aggregated stories are organized into six separate sections. The News (basic news), The Biz (financial news), The Life (features), The Game (sports), The Fame (celebrity), and the Grub (food).