What You Need to Know About Canada’s Changing Weed Laws

Recreational weed could be legal by next year! Here’s what we know.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is keeping one of his campaign promises: weed is apparently becoming legal in Canada soon. On Sunday, the CBC reported that new legislation will be introduced next month that will legalize pot by July 1, 2018. But before you go on a dispensary spending spree, here’s what you need to know about the new Canadian marijuana laws.

The government will control the supply

The government says they want to make sure pot is safe, so Ottawa will determine who gets to be a licensed pot producer. Trudeau told the Toronto Star in December that it’s necessary to legalize and regulate weed “to better protect our kids from the easy access they have to marijuana” and “to remove the criminal elements that were profiting from marijuana.”

Pot rules will vary across provinces

While it’s up to the feds to decide who will produce weed, it’s up to provinces to control how pot is bought and sold. Provinces will also determine prices.

Not everyone can buy weed

Like with alcohol, the Liberals are putting an age restriction on buying bud. The national age minimum is said to be set at 18, but it’s up to individual provinces if they want to make it higher.

You can grow your own plants

Not only can you buy pot, but you can legally grow it, too. There will be a limit of four marijuana plants per household.

Right now, non-medical pot is illegal

It’s important to remember that until the laws formally change, the current regulations around recreational pot are still in place. This means that recreational use is illegal, and the many weed dispensaries that have popped up across the country are still operating on the wrong side of the law.