Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thinks Canadians old enough to drink alcohol are old enough to smoke marijuana legally. Trudeau made the point at a press conference in Ottawa Thursday, days after a federal task force on marijuana legalization recommended the national minimum age to buy recreational marijuana be set at 18. The report also suggested provinces and territories be permitted to raise the age to harmonize with alcohol consumption laws.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks after meeting with indigenous leaders on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Dec. 15. (Photo: Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) In most provinces, the legal drinking age is 19. In Quebec, Manitoba, and Alberta, the age limit is 18. The Canadian Medical Association had urged the task force to recommend a minimum age of 21, pointing to evidence that brains are still developing until the age of 25. The prime minister, who has long said pot legalization is about keeping the drug away from children and profits away from criminals, told reporters the task force’s recommendation felt like a “reasonable” compromise. “We know the largest misdeeds of marijuana use happens at a lower age than 18, 19 years of age, and I think this is a responsible approach that we have found in terms of balance that is both practical and useful,” he said in French. High minimum age would preserve illicit market: report The task force, chaired by former Liberal justice minister Anne McLellan, acknowledged in its report that there are a range of views on the right age to be able to buy legal pot.