Senate committee backs amendment that would allow Manitoba to ban homegrown pot

A Senate committee has voted to amend the federal government's cannabis legalization bill to allow provinces and territories to ban homegrown marijuana.

But it has refused to accept an amendment that would have prohibited home cultivation outright.

Bill C-45 would allow individuals to grow up to four plants in a single dwelling.

But Quebec and Manitoba have decided to prohibit home cultivation, setting up future legal challenges in which Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has said the federal legislation would prevail.

The Senate's social affairs committee, which is conducting a clause-by-clause examination of the bill, has unanimously supported an amendment specifying that provincial and territorial governments have the authority to prohibit home-grown pot if they so choose.

But another amendment proposed by Conservative Sen. Judith Seidman that would have imposed a blanket prohibition on home growing across the country was rejected by a vote of 7-5.