In the wake of a court decision that allows medical marijuana users to continue to grow their own pot, Manitoba will become the first Canadian jurisdiction to follow in the footsteps of Colorado and Washington, the Sun has learned.

Policy-makers have been closely watching events in Colorado and the income the state is harvesting due to the legalization of marijuana.

Manitoba, long known to be a test market for many distributors and products, will soon be used to test legalization of marijuana in Canada, sources said.

Colorado legalized the sale of pot and sales have eclipsed $14 million since Jan. 1, 2014, creating $3.5 million in tax revenue, which is an attractive result for any government.

Government officials wouldn’t confirm the story.

However, an email exchange between bureaucrats obtained by the Sun under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act reveals government officials are gleeful at the prospect of taxing “potheads.”

“Finally, we’ll be able to get some money from those hippy potheads,” read a part of their conversation.

“Maybe they’ll finally actually contribute to society once we get this through,” was the reply. “If nothing else, the girls who go door-to-door selling cookies will at least be able to find some repeat customers.”

Given the amount of marijuana seized by police operations in Manitoba and estimates of pot use in this province, it’s expected government revenues produced by this new industry will be in the range of several million dollars annually. Officials expect economic spinoffs are also expected to occur, particularly within the local snack industry.

There’s no word on when the government will reveal this change, but sources say it could happen as early as Easter Sunday.

NOTE: This was an April Fool's story. Gotcha!