The National Post reports in its Wednesday, June 20, edition that Canadians will be able to legally purchase and consume recreational marijuana by mid-September at the latest after the Senate voted Tuesday to lift almost a century-old prohibition on cannabis. An unbylined item in the Post reports that Senators voted Tuesday night to pass the government's legislation to legalize cannabis -- Bill C-45 -- by 52-29. There were two abstentions. Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor has said the provinces will need two to three months after the bill is passed before they will be ready to implement the new legalized cannabis regime. "We have seen in the Senate tonight a historic vote that ends 90 years of prohibition of cannabis in this country, 90 years of needless criminalization, 90 years of a just-say-no approach to drugs that hasn't worked," said independent Senator Tony Dean, who sponsored the bill in the upper house. Canada is the first industrialized country to legalize cannabis nationwide. Mr. Dean said: I'm proud of Canada today. This is progressive social policy. However, Mr. Dean stressed that the government is taking a cautious, prudent approach to this historic change.