Alex Indigo

Timeline for Canadian Legalization Gets Murky as Senate Pushes for Drugged Driving Bill

The Canadian Senate is effectively stalling federal cannabis legalization as they push for drugged-driving legislation, according to a report from Investor Intel. According to their analysis of the situation, December 2018 would be the earliest legalization could occur and the chamber could delay the legislation to the next election, which would effectively kill both the legalization and drugged driving bills.

What’s the timeline look like?

While the Senate has already held hearings on the legalization measure, it has not gone line-by-line through the analysis to see how it jives with existing laws. According to the report, it likely won’t begin that process until May, after the chamber finished with the drugged-driving bill, putting the timeframe in which it would move back to the House of Commons for third reading to June.

Part of the drugged driving legislation includes a six-month period to allow law enforcement agencies to catch up – so if the legislation passes in June, legalization would probably not be considered until at least December. The report notes that the Senate could continue delaying the legislation through Parliamentary procedures in order to prevent the bills from gaining any more traction until the next election – which, depending on the outcome, could derail Canada‘s legalization entirely.

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