With a little more than a year to go before the federal deadline to legalize marijuana, the incoming provincial government will have to work quickly to implement new provincial pot laws. 

None of the three party leaders has a definite plan on how they want to regulate the drug, but say they will be working on the issue in time for July 1, 2018.

Legalization was a key campaign promise by the Trudeau Liberals in 2015, but Ottawa has given discretion to the provinces over issues such the price of the drug, and how it is distributed and sold. The federal minimum age to buy marijuana will be 18 but provinces are permitted to set an older age limit. 

McNeil: 'Uniform approach' needed

Time ran out in the Texas House late Thursday on a proposed law that would have reduced the penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana in the state to below that of most traffic tickets.

A midnight deadline passed without the full House taking up House Bill 81 for initial consideration, meaning it and other House-originated bills remaining on its calendar are now dead as stand-alone legislation.

The federal government is hoping to find strength in numbers as it tries to stamp out the illicit marijuana market.

Government officials are collecting data — everything from the street price of pot to how often people light up — to arm themselves in the fight against organized crime's presence in the trade, internal Public Safety Canada documents reveal.

The Liberal government has tabled legislation to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana use, with the aim of keeping pot out of the hands of children while denying criminals the hefty profits.

As he admitted having tried weed "at a younger time," California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Wednesday night defended the state’s 2016 legalization of recreational marijuana against possible federal restrictions.

In an interview with POLITICO California’s David Siders and Carla Marrinucci, the former Democratic congressman said he was willing to fight Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a dedicated foe of the drug, on a possible federal crackdown on legal marijuana.

Despite having legalized medical marijuana twenty years ago, California has left its MMJ industry largely unregulated. That is all set to change, as the California Bureau of Marijuana Control has released draft versions of regulations that will tightly regulate the industry starting next year. This week, the bureau released a series of draft regulations that will govern how medical marijuana providers must test their products.

Marijuana reform is gaining major momentum in Texas this week, as the state House of Representatives looks set to vote Thursday on House Bill 81, which aims to decriminalize personal cannabis possession statewide.

If passed, the bill would radically change the way the state punishes low-level marijuana offenders. As it stands, Texans caught with even small amounts of marijuana can face six months in jail, $2,000 in fines and a permanent criminal record. The law would replace those stiff punishments with a $250 fine for possession of an ounce or less.

The law follows a push for leniency in some of Texas’s biggest cities:

Washington DC has joined the ranks of the many U.S states currently permitting the recreational use of cannabis. While many have celebrated these groundbreaking changes, it does not mean that the new laws do not come without their own set of restrictions. If you are hoping to enjoy recreational cannabis in the state of Washington DC, we suggest reading on for a closer look at their current rules and restrictions.

A bill legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in Delaware has cleared its first legislative hurdle.

The legislation, which was released Wednesday by the House Revenue & Finance Committee and now goes to the full House for a vote, regulates and taxes marijuana in the same manner as alcohol.

The bill doesn't allow people to grow their own marijuana but allows adults over age 21 to legally possess less than an ounce of marijuana for personal use.

The legislation would create a commission to regulate, license and tax the marijuana industry, allowing licenses for up to 40 retail stores.

Businesses would pay an application fee of $5,000 and a $10,000 licensing fee every two years. 

Vermont's Legislature on Wednesday became the first in the country to vote to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

The legislation, which passed the House by a 79-66 vote, would allow adults to possess and use small amounts of the drug beginning next year. The bill was identical to one passed last week by the Senate that also sets up a commission to study the best way to regulate marijuana.

The bill now heads to Republican Gov. Phil Scott, whose spokeswoman said he's not philosophically opposed to legalizing marijuana but must be sure the bill answers certain public safety and health questions.

"He'll review the bill when received to determine if those questions are addressed," spokeswoman Rebecca Kelley said after the vote.

Little will change around illegal cannabis cultivation, even if the government changes the current tolerance policy, according to officials from the Ministries of Public Health and Security and Justice. The Dutch government is considering three scenarios: regulating both cannabis sales and cultivation, extending the tolerance policy to include growers, or a total ban on both growing and selling weed, NU.nl reports.

No matter which scenario is picked, there will still be illegal cultivation, the officials expect. Under the current policy - in which cannabis cultivation is illegal - only a limited amount of illegally cultivated weed ends up in the coffeeshop. The vast majority is exported. This will remain the case, the officials believe.