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“Right now young people have far too easy access in Canada to marijuana. Criminal organizations make billions of dollars a year in profits on the sale of marijuana,” Trudeau said.

“We need to move forward on a system that controls and regulates while protecting our kids and our communities.”

Legalization is a process, not an event, he repeated — one that will involve continued work with provinces, municipalities and Indigenous leaders to ensure the law is rolled out properly.

But some provinces have raised concerns about the legalization plans, particularly as they will apply to home cultivation of marijuana.

The federal pot bill, Bill C-45, would make it legal for Canadians to grow up to four cannabis plants at home, with provinces and territories having the latitude to impose their own limits. Manitoba and Quebec say they will forbid home cultivation of any kind; a second Senate report this week recommended a similar outright ban.

Right now young people have far too easy access in Canada to marijuana

Trudeau said the federal government’s decisions on such elements of the bill were developed after years of consultations with experts looking at the most effective ways to cut criminal elements out of the sale of marijuana.

“The decision on home cultivation of up to four plants was based on logic and evidence and it’s one that we will continue to establish as part of the federal framework,” he said.

“Make no mistake. This is a public health and public safety issue that we committed to in the election campaign and that we will be moving forward with this summer.”