It was a week ago that the Senate passed bill C-45 which would legalize marijuana for recreational use. However, after making dozens of changes to the bill, it needed to go back to the House of Commons for another round of approval.
The House was not in favour of several of the changes that the Senate made, including the ability for individual provinces to be able to disallow home cultivation of pot. The Senate also wanted to ban the sale of cannabis-branded clothing and other swag, which the House rejected as well.
Although most of the amendments were agreed to, because the House did not agree to the bill in its entirety, it goes right back to the Senate. If MPs concede on the changes the House didn’t approve, then the bill will be passed and ready to receive Royal Asset and be made into law.
However, if the MPs do not agree and believe the issues are worth more of a discussion, then we could see the process dragged out a bit longer. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is concerned that the Conservatives are trying to drag the issues out as long as possible, stating that, “Andrew Scheer, the Conservative leader, has been telling his Senate caucus – the senators that he still controls – to play games, to slow this down, to interfere with the will of the House.”
Marijuana legalization is within sight, and we’re getting closer to the finish line. Many marijuana stocks, including Canopy Growth Corp (TSX:WEED)(NYSE:CGC), are eagerly awaiting for the bill to become law, as then it’ll only be a matter of weeks before we see recreational pot being sold across the country.
