WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government is planning to end its ban on homegrown recreational cannabis — a move that would leave Quebec as the only province with such a restriction.
The New Westminister Record writes
WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government is planning to end its ban on homegrown recreational cannabis — a move that would leave Quebec as the only province with such a restriction.
“We’re just allowing Manitobans to have the same rights that people in the rest of Canada have,” Premier Wab Kinew said Tuesday.
After legalizing recreational cannabis in 2018, the federal government set a limit on homegrown plants at four per household.
Manitoba under the former Progressive Conservative government went further and joined Quebec in imposing an outright ban. Manitoba had said a ban would reduce the risk of cannabis falling into the hands of children or making its way on to the black market.
Both bans were challenged in court unsuccessfully.
Kinew, who led the New Democrats to victory in last year’s provincial election, had promised to lift the ban.
His commitment to follow through was welcomed Tuesday by Jesse Lavoie, an activist who lost a court battle against the ban last year and launched an appeal that has yet to be heard.
Lavoie rejected the previous government’s concerns about safety, saying the concerns did not materialize when medical marijuana was legalized earlier.
A bill to enact the change is expected to be put before the legislature in the coming days, but it’s not clear whether it will be passed into law any time soon.
