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If all goes according to the Liberal government’s recently announced plan, marijuana will be legal for adults in Canada as of July 1, 2018.

This is a welcome reversal of Canada’s 80-year prohibition on pot, which has never managed to control the demand for the recreational drug and left a black market in the hands of organized crime.

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But while the necessary legislative and practical preparations are undertaken, it remains a crime for Canadians to possess even small amounts for personal consumption.

This creates unnecessary problems.

It is senseless to go ahead with criminal charges for an offence that will no longer be a crime in a matter of months, wasting precious court resources in a justice system already struggling to handle more serious cases in a timely manner.

It is also grossly unfair. Saddling people with criminal records for something legislators are the process of legitimizing has devastating consequences. Yet that’s exactly what’s been happening for years. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has cited this injustice as one of the reasons for finally legalizing pot.