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TEHRAN, October 17 -Canada became the first industrialized nation to legalize recreational cannabis on Wednesday but a legal buzz will be hard to come by in its biggest cities as some, including Toronto and Vancouver, will have no stores open.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -Canada became the first industrialized nation to legalize recreational cannabis on Wednesday but a legal buzz will be hard to come by in its biggest cities as some, including Toronto and Vancouver, will have no stores open.
It marks an historic day as adult Canadians will be able to legally smoke recreational marijuana after nearly a century-long ban.
However, provincial governments’ approval of only a small number of shops so far, and a shortage of weed supplied to these stores means most Canadians’ first toke on Wednesday will likely be of black-market pot.
“There will be a lot of celebrations on the day, and it will almost all be with illegal cannabis” in some of Canada’s biggest cities, said Brad Poulos, an instructor and cannabis business expert at Ryerson University in Toronto. “Recreational cannabis users in Canada ... will just continue with their (existing) sources of supply until the legal system catches up.”
Despite the dearth of stores in Canada’s biggest cities, consumers around the country will be able to buy legal marijuana online, either through websites run by provincial governments or licensed retailers, although delivery will take a few days.
Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada’s easternmost province, was the first to kick off legal sales at the stroke of midnight. Pot enthusiasts in the province will have the biggest choice of shops, with 22 outlets expected to be operating between 9 a.m. local time to 2 a.m., and at least some that opened at midnight on Wednesday.
Countries around the globe, many of whom are just approving medical marijuana, are watching Canada’s recreational legalization, which combines federal rules with varying provincial regulations.
The move is a political win for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who vowed to legalize cannabis in his 2015 election campaign to take profits away from organized crime and to regulate the production, distribution and consumption of a product that millions of Canadians have been consuming illegally.
Provinces and businesses have been struggling to prepare, and legalization was pushed back from original expectations of a July start to enable setting up distribution and sales networks.
In the run-up to legalization, cannabis companies have been on a tear, as companies struck corporate deals while others went public creating an investor frenzy.
Source: Reuters
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