{"id":8474,"date":"2018-10-17T13:34:51","date_gmt":"2018-10-17T13:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com?p=3239981&amp;preview_id=3239981"},"modified":"2018-10-17T13:34:51","modified_gmt":"2018-10-17T13:34:51","slug":"canada-now-worlds-largest-legal-marijuana-marketplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/canada-now-worlds-largest-legal-marijuana-marketplace\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada now world\u2019s largest legal marijuana marketplace"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/canada-now-worlds-largest-legal-marijuana-marketplace\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/canada-now-worlds-largest-legal-marijuana-marketplace.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>TORONTO \u2014 Ian Power was among the first to buy legal recreational marijuana in Canada but he has no plans to smoke it. He plans to frame it.<\/p>\n<p>Canada became the largest country with a legal national marijuana marketplace as sales began early Wednesday in Newfoundland. Power was first in line at a store in St. John\u2019s, Newfoundland.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am going to frame it and hang it on my wall. I\u2019m not even going to smoke it. I\u2019m just going to save it forever,\u201d Power said.<\/p>\n<p>And there was more good news for pot aficionados: Hours before a handful of retail outlets opened in the country\u2019s easternmost province a federal official told The Associated Press that Canada will pardon all those with convictions for possessing up to 30 grams of marijuana, the now-legal threshold.<\/p>\n<p>A formal announcement was planned for later Wednesday. The official, who was not authorized to speak public ahead of the announcement, said those who want to take advantage of the pardons will have to apply.<\/p>\n<p>Canada has had legal medical marijuana since 2001 and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau\u2019s government has spent two years working toward expanding that to include recreational marijuana. The goal is to better reflect society\u2019s changing opinion about marijuana and bring black market operators into a regulated system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProfits out of the hands of criminals. Protection for kids. Today #cannabis is legalized and regulated across Canada,\u201d Trudeau tweeted.<\/p>\n<p>Uruguay was first was the first country to legalize marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>In St. John\u2019s, Newfoundland, hundreds of customers were lined up around the block at the private store on Water Street, the main commercial drag in the provincial capital, by the time the clock struck midnight. A festive atmosphere broke out, with some customers lighting up on the sidewalk and motorists honking their horns in support as they drove by the crowd.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProhibition has ended right now. We just made history,\u201d said the 46-year-old Power, who bought a gram. \u201cI can\u2019t believe we did it. All the years of activism paid off. \u201c<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\" \/>\n<p>Bruce Linton, the CEO of marijuana producer and retailer Canopy Growth, made the sale to Power.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was extremely emotional,\u201d he said. \u201cSeveral people who work for us have been working on this for their entire adult life and several of them were in tears.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Linton said Canada is at the forefront of the industry because it is federally legal in Canada and federally illegal in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe last time Canada was this far ahead in anything, Alexander Graham Bell made a phone call,\u201d said Linton, whose company recently received an investment of $4 billion from Constellation Brands, whose holdings include Corona beer and Robert Mondavi wines.<\/p>\n<p>Tom Clarke, an illegal pot dealer for three decades, was also among the first to make a legal sale in Canada when his store opened at midnight local time in Portugal Cove, Newfoundland. He made the first sale to his dad. A crowd of 50 to 100 people waited outside and cheered him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is awesome. I\u2019ve been waiting my whole life for this,\u201d Clarke said. \u201cI am so happy to be living in Canada right now instead of south of the border.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Clarke, whose middle name is Herb, has been called THC for years by his friends. His dad, Don, said he was thrilled he was among the first customers of legal pot.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been a long time coming. We\u2019ve only been discussing this for 50 years. It\u2019s better late than never,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Newfoundland stores are among at least 111 legal pot shops expected to open across the nation of 37 million people on Wednesday, with many more to come, according to an Associated Press survey of the provinces.<\/p>\n<p>Canadians also can order marijuana products through websites run by provinces or private retailers and have it delivered to their homes by mail.<\/p>\n<p>Alberta and Quebec have set the minimum age for purchase at 18, while others have made it 19.<\/p>\n<p>No stores will open in Ontario, which includes Toronto. The most populous province is working on its regulations and doesn\u2019t expect stores until next spring.<\/p>\n<p>A patchwork of regulations has spread in Canada as each province takes its own approach within the framework set out by the federal government. Some are operating government-run stores, some are allowing private retailers, some both.<\/p>\n<p>Canada\u2019s national approach has allowed for unfettered industry banking, inter-province shipments of cannabis and billions of dollars in investment \u2014 a sharp contrast with national prohibition in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Nine U.S. states have legalized recreational use of pot, and more than 30 have approved medical marijuana. California, the largest legal market in the U.S., earlier this month became the first state with a law mandating expungement of criminal convictions for marijuana-related offenses that no are longer illegal.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said it\u2019s time for the U.S. government to follow Canada\u2019s lead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow that our neighbor to the north is opening its legal cannabis market, the longer we delay, the longer we miss out on potentially significant economic opportunities for Oregon and other states across the country,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. Customs and Border Protection invited Canadian media to a conference call on Tuesday so officials could reiterate that marijuana remains illegal under U.S. federal law and that those who are caught at the border with pot are subject to arrest and prosecution.<\/p>\n<p>As Canada welcomes legalization, supply shortages could develop, as happened in some U.S. states when legalization arrived.<\/p>\n<p>Brenda Tobin and her son Trevor plan to open their pot shop in Labrador City in Newfoundland and Labrador at 4:20 p.m. Wednesday \u2014 420 is slang for the consumption of cannabis. Tobin, a longtime convenience store owner, said they will be cutting a ribbon and cake.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are just ecstatic,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>She expects to run out in few days and doesn\u2019t know when she\u2019ll get her next order in. She doesn\u2019t expect to make much money off the pot itself, noting Newfoundland\u2019s 8 percent cap on retail pot profits. She hopes to make money from pipes, bongs and marijuana paraphernalia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no money in the product itself,\u201d she said. \u201cYou got to sell $250,000 worth of product in order to make $20,000. That\u2019s not even paying someone\u2019s salary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>Gene Johnson reported from Seattle. Johnson is a member of AP\u2019s marijuana beat team. Follow him at https:\/\/twitter.com\/GeneAPseattle. Find complete AP marijuana coverage at http:\/\/apnews.com\/tag\/LegalMarijuana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Ian Power was among the first to buy legal recreational marijuana in Canada but he has no plans to smoke it. He plans to frame it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[146,6811,7151,6892,5898,6813,77,6826,5667,56,9,5019,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[2724,6816,7152,6893,5902,6818,2655,6828,5673,2636,5022],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8474"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8474\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}