Justin Trudeau Supports Cracking Down on Weed Dispensaries

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau insists that until new laws regulating marijuana in Canada come into effect, cops are still obligated to "enforce the law" and crackdown on dispensaries.

Trudeau made the comments in an interview with the Toronto Star editorial board on Friday. "We haven't changed the laws. We haven't legalized it yet. Yes, we got a clear mandate to do that. We've said we will," he said during a press conference. "We've said we're going to do it to protect our kids and to keep the money out of the pockets of criminals." He explained that his decision to regulate marijuana isn't meant to please recreational users, but to ["better protect our kids from the easy access they have right now to marijuana; and, two, to remove the criminal elements that were profiting from marijuana." ](https://www.liberal.ca/realchange/marijuana/)The PM acknowledged that the situation is frustrating for everyone and explained that in order for his plan to be effective, "it's important that we do it right in order to achieve those two specific goals." "We believe that a properly regulated, controlled system will achieve both of those measures," he said. New legislation surrounding marijuana regulation is supposed to come into effect sometime next year. Trudeau noted that a "byproduct" of the legislation will inevitably benefit recreational uses, but stressed that until then, "the current prohibition stands." Follow Lisa Power on Twitter.