OTTAWA — The Senate has passed the federal government's bill to legalize recreational cannabis by a vote of 52-29. </s> TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s Senate has given final passage to the federal government’s bill to legalize recreational cannabis, though Canadians will have to wait at least a few months to legally buy marijuana.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government had hoped to make pot legal by July 1, but the government has said provincial and territorial governments will need eight to 12 weeks following Senate passage and royal assent to prepare for retail sales. Trudeau’s Cabinet is expected to decide a legalization date in early or mid-September.

The law makes Canada the second country to have a nationwide, legal marijuana market, after Uruguay. Each province in Canada is coming up with rules for the sale of recreational pot.

The bill passed in the Senate by a vote of 52-29 on Tuesday. </s> TORONTO — Canada’s Senate has given final passage to the federal government’s bill to legalize recreational cannabis, though Canadians will have to wait at least a few months to legally buy marijuana.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government had hoped to make pot legal by July 1, but the government has said provincial and territorial governments will need eight to 12 weeks following Senate passage and royal assent to prepare for retail sales. Trudeau’s Cabinet is expected to decide a legalization date in early or mid-September.

The law makes Canada the second country to have a nationwide, legal marijuana market, after Uruguay. Each province in Canada is coming up with rules for the sale of recreational pot.

The bill passed in the Senate by a vote of 52-29 on Tuesday. </s> Canada's Senate has given final passage to the federal government's bill to legalise recreational cannabis, though Canadians will have to wait at least a few months to legally buy marijuana.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government had hoped to make pot legal by July 1, but the government has said provincial and territorial governments will need eight to 12 weeks following Senate passage and royal assent to prepare for retail sales.

Trudeau's Cabinet is expected to decide a legalisation date in early or mid-September.

The law makes Canada the second country to have a nationwide, legal marijuana market, after Uruguay.

Each province in Canada is coming up with rules for the sale of recreational pot.

The bill passed in the Senate by a vote of 52-29 today. </s> Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption The Senate passed the bill, with 52 votes in favour and 29 against

Canada's parliament has passed a law legalising the recreational use of marijuana nationwide.

The Cannabis Act passed its final hurdle on Tuesday in a 52-29 vote in the Senate. The bill controls and regulates how the drug can be grown, distributed, and sold.

Canadians will be able to buy and consume cannabis legally as early as this September.

The country is the second worldwide to legalise the drug's recreational use.

Uruguay became the first country to legalise the sale of cannabis for recreational use in December 2013, while a number of US states have also voted to permit it.

Cannabis possession first became a crime in Canada in 1923 but medical use has been legal since 2001.

The bill will likely receive Royal Assent this week, and the government will then choose an official date when the law will come into force.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that until now, "it's been too easy for our kids to get marijuana - and for criminals to reap the profits".

But some groups objected to the new law, with opposition Conservative politicians and indigenous groups among those voicing concerns.

The government is expected to give the provinces and territories, as well as municipalities, eight to 12 weeks to set up the new marijuana marketplace.

This timeframe will also allow industry and police forces to prepare for the new legal framework.

In 2015, Canadians were estimated to have spent about C$6bn ($4.5bn, £3.4bn) on cannabis - almost as much as they did on wine.

How will legal marijuana in Canada work?

It is likely that by mid-September, Canadians will be able to buy cannabis and cannabis oil grown by licensed producers at various retail locations.

Canadians across the country will also be able to order the drug online from federally licensed producers, and grow up to four plants at home.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Take a look inside the world's largest legal cannabis farm

Adults will be able to possess up to 30 grams (one ounce) of dried cannabis in public.

Edibles, or cannabis-infused foods, will not be immediately available for purchase but will be within a year of the bill coming into force. The delay is meant to give the government time to set out regulations specific to those products.

The minimum legal age to buy and consume marijuana has been set federally at 18 but some provinces have chosen to set it at 19.

Provinces are in charge of how it is sold and have the power to set various other limits on its use within their jurisdiction - like where it can be smoked.

But the federal government has set guidelines for plain packaging with little branding and strict health warnings. It will also impose restrictions on promotions targeting young people, promotion through sponsorships, or depictions of celebrities, characters or animals in advertisements.

What will remain illegal?

It will be illegal to possess more than 30 grams of cannabis in public, grow more than four plants per household and to buy from an unlicensed dealer.

Image copyright Press Association Image caption There will still be some restrictions on cannabis use in Canada

Penalties will be severe. Someone caught selling the drug to a minor could be jailed for up to 14 years.

Some critics say the penalties are too harsh and not proportional to similar laws like those around selling alcohol to minors.

What are the rules around the world?

Cannabis is banned in most countries but a number of places have decriminalised its use in recent years. The UK government said recently it would review the use of medicinal cannabis.

It is legal for medicinal purposes in 14 European countries, Israel, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Panama, Mexico, Turkey, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

In the US, medicinal use is allowed in 29 states and the District of Columbia, Nine of the states have legalised both medical and personal cannabis use.

Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Jamaica, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Luxembourg are among countries that have relaxed legislation regarding personal use.

Did anyone object?

The new law has not been met with universal praise.

Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer has previously said he was apprehensive it would normalise cannabis use and make it more accessible.

Leo Housakos, a Conservative senator from Quebec, tweeted to say that he thought the law would be "catastrophic for Canadian generations to come".

One specific concern being raised is the legal minimum age being set at 18 instead of 25, as was recommended by multiple experts. However, the government's own task force recommended 18, warning that setting the age limit too high could continue to encourage youth to buy marijuana on the illegal market.

Opponents also question the potential public health impact of legalisation.

Meanwhile, indigenous groups and politicians have voiced fears that their communities were not adequately consulted in the run-up to the vote.

Indigenous services minister Jane Philpott and health minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor had to write a letter to the chair and deputy chair of the Senate's Committee on Aboriginal Peoples earlier in June promising a full report to parliament addressing their concerns, narrowly averting a delay to the law's passage.

Why is Canada doing this now?

This legislation fulfils a 2015 campaign promise by Mr Trudeau, the leader of the Liberal Party.

The prime minister has argued that Canada's nearly century-old laws criminalising use of the drug have been ineffective, given that Canadians are still among the world's heaviest users.

Polls have repeatedly indicated that a solid majority of Canadians are supportive of the move.

The decision to legalise recreational use of marijuana in Canada comes as global trends shift away from criminal prohibition of the widely used drug. </s> Canada has legalized recreational marijuana use after the country's two legislative chambers approved the Cannabis Act Tuesday, the CBC reports.

The bill will allow Canadian provinces to control and regulate how marijuana can be grown, distributed and sold, and it's likely that sales will begin by the end of the summer. The Cannabis Act makes Canada the first Group of Seven nation, and the second country in the world (after Uruguay) to legalize marijuana for adults nationally.

The Cannabis Act still needs Royal Assent – the final step the Canadian legislative process – to become law, but that is expected to happen later this week. Built into the bill is an eight-to-12 week buffer period that will allow provinces to prepare for the recreational sale of marijuana. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet will set the official date on which the law will actually go into effect.

Trudeau made legalizing cannabis part of his campaign platform in 2015, and in 2017 he introduced legalization legislation. On Twitter, the Prime Minister marked the passage of the Cannabis Act, writing, "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 and regulate marijuana just passed the Senate."

The Cannabis Act will make it legal for anyone over 18 to possess up to 30 grams of marijuana, while adults will also be allowed to grow up to four marijuana plants at home. While the bill establishes a national framework for how the cannabis market will operate, each province will be allowed to set their own system of licensing and regulation.

Canada legalized medical marijuana in 2001, though the law required patients to grow their own plants or designate another individual to grow it for them. A 2013 legal challenge broadened the law to create a system of federally licensed producers, but that ruling was itself challenged three years later on the grounds that it unreasonably limited access and increased costs. Though the 2016 ruling didn't explicitly make dispensaries legal, it encouraged the idea that such a business could operate so long as it was for strictly medical reasons. In the years since, a gray market of sorts sprouted up in various Canadian cities, with many dispensary operators growing increasingly comfortable as legalization approached. </s> The Canadian parliament passed a bill Monday to legalize cannabis that would make Canada the first G7 country to allow free consumption of the mind-altering drug.

The bill was passed by 205 votes to 82 in the House of Commons. The legislation must now pass the Senate, and receive royal assent by the governor general before becoming law, likely by September. The Senate could still delay its implementation, but not block it.

"We're probably looking at a date of implementation (of legalization) somewhere toward the beginning of September, perhaps mid-September," the Liberal government's pointman on the pot file, Bill Blair, told broadcaster CTV on Sunday.

Last week, the government rejected 13 out of 46 amendments to the bill proposed by the Senate after several months of study, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's health minister rising to defend home cultivation of cannabis and branded pot swag.

"Canadians are allowed to make beer at home, or wine," Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said Friday. "It is already possible for Canadians to grow cannabis for medical purposes and we absolutely believe the legislation should be consistent when it comes to recreational cannabis."

The government, she said, would follow its expert panel's recommendation to allow at-home cultivation of up to four pot plants for personal use.

As for the proposed advertising restrictions, she said the bill already contains limits such as a requirement for plain packaging.

Legalizing weed was a 2015 campaign promise of Trudeau, who has admitted having smoked a joint with friends "five or six times."

An initial July 1 target was set for ending the pot prohibition that dates back to 1923.

Despite political setbacks, Trudeau has insisted his government would move to legalize the production, sale and consumption of the psychoactive drug this year.

Statistics Canada has estimated that the market will be worth Can$5.7 billion (U.S.$4.5 billion), based on last year's consumption data. </s> TORONTO — Canada's Senate gave final passage Tuesday to the federal government's bill to legalize cannabis, though Canadians will have to wait at least a couple of months to legally buy marijuana as their country becomes the second in the world to make pot legal nationwide.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government had hoped to make pot legal by July 1, but the government has said provincial and territorial governments will need eight to 12 weeks following Senate passage and royal assent to prepare for retail sales. Trudeau's government is expected to decide a date that would legalize it in early or mid-September. A spokesman for Trudeau said they are not in a rush to do it.

"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 tweeted.

Canada is following the lead of Uruguay in allowing a nationwide, legal marijuana market, although each Canadian province is working up its own rules for pot sales. The federal government and the provinces also still need to publish regulations that will govern the cannabis trade.

The bill passed in the Senate by a vote of 52-29.

"We have seen in the Senate tonight a historic vote that ends 90 years of prohibition of cannabis in this country, 90 years of needless criminalization, 90 years of a just-say-no approach to drugs that hasn't worked," said independent Sen. Tony Dean, who sponsored the bill in the upper house.

Canada is the largest developed country to end a nationwide prohibition on marijuana use. In the neighboring U.S., nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana. California, home to one in eight Americans, launched the United States' biggest legal marijuana marketplace on Jan. 1. </s> Canadian lawmakers passed sweeping cannabis legalization on Tuesday that will legalize recreational use of marijuana by adults.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government had hoped to make pot legal by July 1, but the government said local governments will need eight to 12 weeks to prepare for retail sales.

Trudeau's Cabinet is expected to set a legalization date in early or mid-September.

While many nations have decriminalized marijuana, Uruguay had previously been the only country to legalize marijuana nationwide.

Canada's legislation, known as the Cannabis Act, allows provinces to establish their own systems for licensing and regulating marijuana businesses, according to a statement from the Marijuana Policy Project.

Under the national framework, adults will be allow to possess up to 30 grams of marijuana, the Marijuana Policy Project says.

"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," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted in reaction to the bill's passage Tuesday.

June 6: Canada poised to approve legal marijuana sales; pot shops could be open by late summer

In the USA, nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis, but marijuana remains federally classified a Schedule 1 drug with "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse," according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Recreational marijuana sales in Canada could be worth $3.3 billion by 2027.

The next step for the legislation: being sent to the governor general for royal assent, Marijuana Policy Project reported in a statement.

Contributing: Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY, and the Associated Press
The Senate of Canada passes the Cannabis Act 52–29 which legalizes cannabis for recreational use.