Canada May Be Fast-Tracking Recreational Marijuana Legalization

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new administration may be taking a quicker approach to legalizing recreational cannabis nationwide than previously thought.

The country’s minister of public safety told the Canadian broadcaster CBC that officials will soon create a task force comprised of representatives from the federal, provincial and municipal governments to discuss legalization.

“We’ll have a detailed announcement (on the task force) coming in the next several weeks,” the minister, Ralph Goodale, said.

Noel Atkinson, a research analyst at Clarus Securities in Canada, told the firm’s clients in a note that the comments are a sign “the federal government intends to move forward quickly with legalization of recreational marijuana,” according to Cantech Letter.

He added that this is great news for publicly traded Canadian cannabis companies.

“We believe the licensed producers will see their stock prices rise once that formal announcement occurs in the next several weeks, as the licensed producers are positioned to be the primary wholesale suppliers to a government-regulated retail network for recreational marijuana,” Atkinson said.