Canada just became the second country in the world to legalize marijuana
- Canada just became the second country in the world to legalize marijuana nationwide.
- The bill passed Canada's Senate 52-29 on Tuesday evening.
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's promised to legalize marijuana during Canada's 2015 campaign.
- Marijuana stocks surged at the news on Wednesday morning.
Canada is now the second country in the world to legalize marijuana, paving the way for recreational marijuana sales throughout the country.
Canada's Upper House of Parliament on Tuesday evening approved the revised bill 52-29, making Canada the first Group of Seven country to legalize marijuana. Uruguay previously legalized marijuana in 2013.
"It's been too easy for our kids to get marijuana - and for criminals to reap the profits. Today, we change that. Our plan to legalize & regulate marijuana just passed the Senate," Trudeau said in a Tuesday evening tweet after the vote passed.
What the bill does
Bill C-45, known as the Cannabis Act, legalizes marijuana but leaves it up to each province to decide how to implements sales. Some provinces, like Ontario, are planning on provincially-run outlets, while others, like Alberta, will open up retail marijuana to the private sector.
The federal government set a minimum age of 18 to purchase marijuana, though some provinces have indicated they will raise the age to 19, mirroring liquor purchase laws. The bill makes the distribution and sale of marijuana to minors an offense.
Recreational sales are expected to begin in the next 8 to 12 weeks, according to Reuters.
The bill was part of a promise that Trudeau's Liberal Party made during the 2015 election campaign to keep marijuana out of young people's hands and move the illicit market into a regulated framework.
"I'm feeling just great," Sen. Tony Dean, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. "We've just witnessed a historic vote for Canada. The end of 90 years of prohibition. Transformative social policy, I think. A brave move on the part of the government."
Activists applauded the move
Cannabis activists cheered the move on Wednesday morning.
"Canada should be applauded for taking bold and decisive steps towards ending the failed prohibition of marijuana," Hannah Hetzer, the Senior International Policy Manager for the Drug Policy Alliance, said in a statement. "Canada's progress will galvanize support for drug policy reforms in the U.S. and all around the world."
Erik Altieri, the executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, echoed Hetzer's sentiment.
"We applaud Canada for showing federal legislators in the United States what can be accomplished with true leadership and dedication to sound public policy," Altieri said in a statement.
Marijuana stocks are surging
Marijuana stocks surged at the news on Wednesday morning.
The Canadian Marijuana Index, an aggregate measurement of all publicly-listed marijuana stocks in Canada, was up 3.34% as of 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday. The overall North American index, which includes US stocks, was up 2.28%.
Golden Leaf Holdings, a Canadian Securities Exchange-listed cannabis company, was the biggest gainer with the stock surging 6.81% as of the time of writing.
Legalized marijuana is expected to be a boon for Canada's economy. CIBC, one of the country's largest banks, predicts Canada's legal marijuana market will be a $6.5 billion industry by 2020.
A number of Canadian marijuana firms, including Aurora Cannabis and Canopy Growth Corp are seeing a wave of investor excitement around marijuana legalization. Marijuana companies are capitalizing on all that liquidity to go on acquisition sprees.