Article by Catherine Cullen, CBC News It’s no secret that many Conservatives don’t like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plans for pot. On Wednesday, the Conservative leader in the Senate, Larry Smith, criticized the federal government’s “rush to legalize marijuana.” A few days earlier, Conservative Senator Denise Batters said Canada is not ready for legalization and “Canadians will pay the price for ...

Article by CBC News Senators have voted to pass the Trudeau government’s landmark legislation to lift Canada’s 95-year-old prohibition on recreational cannabis by a vote of 56 to 30 with one abstention. Despite the resolute opposition of the 32 Conservative senators, and trepidation among some independent senators, Bill C-45 now moves back to the House of Commons. MPs there will now ...

Article by Drew Brown, The Guardian When can I buy it? We’re not sure. Probably late summer or early autumn. The government had intended for recreational marijuana use to be legalized by 1 July 2018. Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act, passed its third reading in the House of Commons last fall, and Trudeau has emphasised that it will be implemented without delay. ...

Article by Kate Robertson, The Guardian On a cool evening this past winter, Markham cannabis producer MedReleaf unveiled the first official branding for a legal recreational weed company at Toronto’s Opera House. Inside, a white Bob Marley cover band called Mob Barley & the Railers played an enthusiastic but seemingly endless rendition of every greatest hits track, from No Woman No Cry ...

Article by Selena Ross, The Guardian When Canopy Growth opened its first cannabis factory in an old chocolate plant near Ottawa four years ago, it did so predicting a bright future. Canada had already legalized medical marijuana, and Canopy predicted full legalization for recreational use to be next. What the company hadn’t predicted, however, was the sudden flood of foreign visitors. Politicians ...

Article by Global News The Trudeau government has averted a potential confrontation with Indigenous senators that could have delayed the legalization of recreational marijuana. The 11 members of the Senate’s Aboriginal peoples’ committee had planned Wednesday to support a Conservative amendment that would have indefinitely deferred implementation of Bill C-45 until such time as the government tables in both houses ...

Article by Dina Ibrahim, Puff Puff Post Kevin from Toronto is leaning towards the Progressive Conservatives (PC) party in the upcoming Ontario election on June 7. Kevin, who doesn’t want to share his last name, said he is choosing the PC’s Doug Ford because he doesn’t want to see “tax money wasted.” But when asked about the PC’s stance on marijuana, ...

Article by Randi Druzin, Leafly News With the Ontario general election just a day away, party leaders are making their final pitch to voters and political pundits are scratching their heads, trying to predict a winner. The Progressive Conservative Party and the New Democratic Party are in a dead heat, with both expected to win 37% of the votes, according ...

Article by CBC News After cannabis is legalized throughout Canada later this year, Canadians are expected to increase their consumption of the drug by up to 35 per cent and spend as much as $7 billion on legal and illegal sales in 2019. Accounting firm Deloitte makes those predictions in a new report based on an online survey of 1,500 adults living in Canada’s 10 provinces ...

Article by CBC News A New Brunswick man has filed a complaint with Canada’s air transport security authority after he says he was forced to remove his medical cannabis from its prescription container before boarding a flight. Burton resident Laurie Manzer, who is a veteran and a campaigner for cannabis as a medication, uses the drug to deal with pain and anxiety ...