Marijuana sales officially began in Canada on Wednesday, making it the first G7 country — and the second country in the world after Uruguay — to legalize the drug for all adults.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned on a promise to legalize marijuana, and his government delivered in the form of Bill C-45, otherwise known as the Cannabis Act.
While Trudeau cast the bill in a public-health lens, saying it would make marijuana more difficult for teenagers to access and erode black-market profits, the global financial community is eagerly looking at Canada to see how legalization plays out.
The bill legalizes marijuana but leaves it up to each province to set age limits and decide how to sell it. Some provinces, like Ontario — Canada’s most populous province and financial center — won’t have open storefronts on Wednesday.
Until Ontario’s Conservative government works out the kinks in its plan to open the market to private retailers, Ontarians will be able to purchase cannabis online.
Other provinces, like Alberta, will have cannabis available in privately-run stores on Wednesday for all adults over the age of 18. Quebec, on the other hand, is planning to raise the age limit to 21. All provinces will have only marijuana flower available.
Vaporizers, edibles, and marijuana-infused beverages are expected to be made legal sometime next year.
The Canadian government also announced it is rolling out a plan to pardon those who have past marijuana possession charges.
Definitely need it here it would empty our jails quickly and the tax on Marijuana would be most welcomed in our County to fix our crumbling schools and take care of our senior citizens and bring back a hospital to Northampton County. So, yes to legalize the sale of Marijuana to seniors and too all, as a matter of fact, it’s better than getting drunk on alcohol which is worse.
I agree with Tony. Legalization of Marijuana is long overdue. The Hemp industry would also benefit our local farmers giving them a high cash crop to sustain food production. Both Federal and State governments need to act.
Marijuana up this way to the north of you has been as common as dirt for God knows how many years, but certainly since the 1960s, when an ounce cost about $10 and possession, as some people I knew back then found out, was treated like a traffic ticket.
When I got back from Viet Nam in 1970, again pot was as common as dirt, and an ounce still went for around $10, but then it started becoming more and more illegal, and the price started to skyrocket up into the patently ridiculous.
Now today, with it illegal, according to a detective I know on the Albany Police drug force, the most violent dealers they encounter are those selling pot, which is a ******* weed that grows wild up here.
Something is definitely wrong with that equation as I see it.
The cops take one dealer off the street, and the vacuum is rapidly by another, because with pot illegal, a lot of money is at stake, as a story told in the Albany Times Union article “A bright future’s dark past – A former drug dealer seeks to rebuild a city block — and also a family legacy” by Brendan J. Lyons published July 27, 2013, demonstrates as follows:
Beneath his dark suit, Robinson’s chest bears the scar of a bullet that tore through him 22 years ago when he was the upcoming kingpin of a bustling, family-run marijuana enterprise.
Three men tried to kill Robinson that summer in a failed attempt to take over his drug trade.
His legend was elevated by his survival, and Robinson’s marijuana business grew over the next 10 years.
By 2000, he and his brothers controlled the city’s drug epicenter, North Swan Street, and other “weed houses” around the city that sparked clashes with New York City gang members and city police who were unable, or unwilling, to eradicate the family’s open-air drug market.
In an interview with the Times Union 13 years ago, Robinson struggled to explain the contradiction between his vocation as a drug dealer and his desire to give back to his community.
”What I do isn’t bad, compared to the crack and guns,” Robinson said in May 2000.
Tens months after that interview, the U.S. Justice Department indicted Robinson, along with three of his brothers and several cronies, including his girlfriend, in a sprawling case that sent them all to prison.
One of his brothers, Steven, who was implicated in a murder, remains in federal prison on drug and weapons charges.
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That’s what comes of taking a weed as common as dirt and making it illegal – it turns it into the province of violent criminals like this Robinson gang.
Seems kind of stupid to me, anyway, but the criminals profiting off marijuana sales seem to like it that way, so what do I know!
Agreed, gentlemen! This is really a no-brainer when you consider the high rewards vs. , if any, the drawbacks. In addition to what Tony and David have said, there would be less crime & incarceration, less use of limited law enforcement resources and more money all around to do beneficial things (I think they said that but this is too important to miss repeating!). On the positive side, VA has legalized the sale of medical marijuana and, correct me if I’m wrong, CBD which is a non-THC product that helps with relaxation, stress management, etc. There was a state level public comment period about 6 months ago to gauge the public’s feeling about legalizing other forms of this product. It does show that VA is, at least, listening and watching.
Where has the VA done that, Jane?
I am a disabled veteran to the north of you, and I am unaware of that.
Was it only in Virginia?
My reference to VA is Virginia not Veterans Affairs. Sorry for any confusion.
No sorry needed, Jane!
T’were my mistake!
Oh, re-reading that, I mistook your capitalization of Va. for the government veterans’ healthcare agency!