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editorial

And so, Canada edges closer to ending a 90-year prohibition on cannabis.

The Senate last week gave its assent to a bill that will legalize recreational marijuana use. There were suggestions the vote would be close. It wasn’t. Senators voted 56-30 in favour.

But they also proposed amendments to Bill C-45, many of which are technical tweaks, while a dozen or so amount to substantive changes.

The headline-maker is an amendment allowing provinces to outlaw home cultivation if they choose. That answers the criticism put forward by Manitoba and Quebec, which plan to continue prosecuting people who grow their own, even though the proposed law contains a provision allowing up to four marijuana plants at home.

Another Senate amendment would sharply restrict cannabis producers’ ability to promote their brands on clothing and other accessories.

Both amendments are evidence of an outdated belief regarding cannabis; namely, that it is qualitatively different from booze – which causes thousands of deaths annually and is liberally advertised on T-shirts and bottle openers everywhere. You can even make it at home.

There is an obvious absurdity in this. The majority Liberals in the Commons should reject the promotional ban. But they must not reflexively resist all the Senate’s changes, and indeed should be open to compromise on home growing.

The Criminal Code is a federal jurisdiction, but is federalism not about experimentation and asymmetry? Federal and provincial statutes often overlap; they can differ on essentially identical matters and regularly do. Embracing flexibility is not the same thing as letting Manitoba and Quebec dictate terms on legal territory that isn’t theirs.

The Commons is right to defend its legislative sovereignty, but in this case it should think twice about being obstinate at the risk of additional delays and confusion.

Within reason, the government’s priority in crafting the final version of its pot law should be to present Senators with wording they will agree to in short order.

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