Justin Trudeau not backing down on timeline for legalizing marijuana despite calls for delay

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn’t backing down from his government’s much-maligned timeline for legalizing marijuana, despite a growing chorus of calls from senators, Indigenous leaders and others to delay the plan for up to a year.

Trudeau says the plan to make recreational pot legal by this summer will go ahead without delay.

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That declaration follows comments Wednesday that suggested he was open to slowing down the process, following a Senate committee report calling for more consultation with First Nations on taxation, education materials and addictions treatment.

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Trudeau says every single day that marijuana remains illegal, Canadians are being harmed, proving that the current approach is not working.

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He says legalizing the drug will take control away from criminal organizations and drug dealers.

But he also says legalization is a process, one that will involve continued work with provinces, municipalities and Indigenous leaders to ensure the law is rolled out properly.