Canadians will be able to legally purchase and consume recreational marijuana by mid-September at the latest after the Senate voted Tuesday to lift Canada’s 95-year prohibition on cannabis.
Senators voted 52-29, with two abstentions, to pass bill C-45, after seven months of study and debate.
Senators backed down on an amendment to the federal government’s cannabis legalization bill that would have recognized the authority of provincial governments to ban home cultivation of marijuana plants if they choose.
The Trudeau government rejected that amendment and senators voted 45-35 against insisting on it.
Quebec and Manitoba have already decided to ban home-grown weed, despite the fact that the federal bill specifies that individuals may grow up to four plants per dwelling.
The Senate’s amendment was intended to avoid legal challenges of the provinces’ constitutional authority to prohibit home cultivation.
