Marijuana legalization bill to be tabled Thursday

Legislation to legalize and regulate marijuana in Canada will be tabled on Thursday in the House of Commons, Global News has confirmed.

The bill is expected to cover everything from the age when people can purchase the drug to the number of plants that can be grown at home. Last week, the government confirmed that it wants the legalization process to be complete by July 1, 2018.

WATCH: Federal government to legalize marijuana by July 2018

2:20 Federal government to legalize marijuana by July 2018

The Liberal government committed to legalization in its 2015 campaign platform. Since then, a special task force has studied other jurisdictions and best practices, and recently produced a series of recommendations.

The legislation is expected to stick closely to those guidelines. They include a minimum age of 18 to buy pot, allowing provinces to increase the legal age if they wish to do so. It will also be up to provinces to decide how pot is bought and sold, and at what price.

READ MORE: Why are people being arrested for pot if the Trudeau government is looking to legalize it?

The task force recommended strict regulations surrounding the marketing, packaging and promotion of pot products, as well as prohibiting any edible marijuana-based product made to look like candy (or that is deemed to be “appealing to children”).

Individual Canadians will be allowed to grow up to four pot plants per household, the CBC has reported.

Last spring, Health Minister Jane Philpott announced during a special session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York that the government planned to introduce the legislation legalizing marijuana in spring 2017.