--- description: The government says they will learn from U.S. states where the drug has been legalized title: Canadian Government Reaffirms Plan to Legalize Marijuana image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt093bc7c44a50d5f3/698873e7a988cabd706b594b/david-johnston.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Canadian Government Reaffirms Plan to Legalize Marijuana by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 5, 2015 8:03 PM CUT  David Johnston delivers the Speech from the Throne to the start Canada's 42nd parliament in Ottawa, Canada on Dec. 4, 2015. David Johnston delivers the Speech from the Throne to the start Canada's 42nd parliament in Ottawa, Canada on Dec. 4, 2015.Geoff Robins—AFP/Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 5, 2015 8:03 PM CUT New Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration has [reaffirmed](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/04/canada-new-liberal-government-legalize-marijuana "undefined") that it will make moves to legalize marijuana now that parliament is resuming after the October election. In a speech Friday laying out policy plans, Governor General David Johnston said the new Liberal government would make recreational use of the drug legal, but that it would also regulate and restrict access—though details about those restrictions were not forthcoming, _The Guardian_ reports. Johnston said eliminating the “criminal element” of marijuana use would help fix a broken system, adding that regulators would have much to learn from recent efforts in Colorado and Washington states. \[[_The Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/04/canada-new-liberal-government-legalize-marijuana "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4137644/canadian-prime-minister-reaffirms-plan-to-legalize-marijuana/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4137644/canadian-prime-minister-reaffirms-plan-to-legalize-marijuana/"},"headline":"Canadian Government Reaffirms Plan to Legalize Marijuana","datePublished":"2015-12-05T20:03:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:08:17.085Z","description":"The government says they will learn from U.S. states where the drug has been legalized","url":"https://time.com/4137644/canadian-prime-minister-reaffirms-plan-to-legalize-marijuana/","keywords":["Canada"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt093bc7c44a50d5f3/698873e7a988cabd706b594b/david-johnston.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt093bc7c44a50d5f3/698873e7a988cabd706b594b/david-johnston.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"CANADA-GOVERNMENT-PARLIAMENT","caption":"CANADA-GOVERNMENT-PARLIAMENT","creditText":"Geoff Robins—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4137644/canadian-prime-minister-reaffirms-plan-to-legalize-marijuana/","name":"Canadian Government Reaffirms Plan to Legalize Marijuana"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Inside the World of Medical Marijuana for Kids","description":"The story of a family's illegal cross-country drive to transport marijuana oil for their epileptic 3-year-old daughter. 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