Canada’s Legislature Votes To Legalize Marijuana; Sales Will Begin In Weeks

Canada’s House of Commons voted to legalize recreational marijuana use, sending the bill to the Senate. In this photo from April 20, smoke rises during the annual 4/20 marijuana rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario.

Chris Wattie / Reuters

Updated at 8:05 p.m. ET

Recreational marijuana may soon be legal in Canada, after both the House of Commons and the Senate approved the Cannabis Act. Legal sales are likely to begin before the end of summer after the Senate voted 52-29 Tuesday night to approve the bill, the CBC reports.

“We’ve just witnessed a historic vote for Canada. The end of 90 years of prohibition,” Sen. Tony Dean, one of the bill’s sponsors, told the CBC. “Transformative social policy, I think. A brave move on the part of the government.”