The Senate has voted to accept the latest version of the bill that will make recreational marijuana legal in Canada within the next three months.
Bill C-45 passed by a vote of 52 to 29, with two senators abstaining, and will now move to royal assent.
"I’m thrilled to see that the [Senate] has approved Bill C-45," said Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Canada’s minister of health, in a tweet. "We’re on the cusp of a sensible, responsible and equitable cannabis policy."
While the bill is not yet in effect in Canada, marijuana is expected to be legal in Canada by August or September. The federal government has previously promised provinces and municipalities eight to 12 weeks to allow for final preparations.
The bill had been a point of contention between the Senate and the House of Commons for months.
The Senate proposed 46 amendments to the Cannabis Act last week, 13 of which were rejected by the Liberal government. One rejected amendment would have affirmed the provinces' right to ban growing marijuana plants at home.
Initially, the government had planned for the bill to be passed by both houses of Parliament in time for retail sales to begin by July 1. That timeline was pushed back after the Senate requested more time to review Bill C-45.
https://twitter.com/GPTaylorMRD/status/1009217512695713792
https://twitter.com/CanadaPotstocks/status/1009218570205552640
