Senators have voted to pass the federal government's bill legalizing recreational marijuana by a vote of 52-29, with two abstentions, paving the way for a fully legal cannabis market within eight to 12 weeks.
"I'm feeling just great," said Sen. Tony Dean, who sponsored the bill in the Senate. "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."
Of course, there are plenty of details of the implementations which need to be ironed-out, and the entire thing is going to be a long series of trial and error to figure-out what works. Though this is a federal law, each province and territory has been trying to sort-out their go-to-market strategy. Some are looking toward private sales (the provinces with privatized booze sales) while others are either leveraging existing, provincially-owned booze sales networks and stores, or setting-up parallel systems (because letting people buy a bottle of booze and a bag of weed in the same physical location would, for whatever reason, be bad).
I think in the end, it will all turn-out to be a lot less dramatic than most folks figure. It's not like governments are going to be throwing launch parties featuring Snoop Dog and sponsoring school barbecues. Those who already smoke weed will keep smoking it, maybe switching to buying it from a different place, while those who don't smoke weed aren't likely to spark-up a giant spliff just because the man is a bit more chill.
I also don't see it being a sudden tax revenue windfall, at least until each province figures-out how to optimize the system (while simultaneously not promoting it - a fine balancing act). Over time, it will take a good chunk of money out of the hands of black-market types, and produce tax revenue, but that will be a bit of a journey for each provincial government.
Maybe at the next G7 meeting in Canada, the leaders can pass a bong around the campfire and discover some chill they didn't know they had. Or, you know, have a total reefer-madness-esque breakdown on Twitter. Either could be interesting.