First legal “weed” sold in Canada at Newfoundland shops
Canopy Growth CEO Bruce Linton, left, sells the first order of legal marijuana to Ian Power at the Tweed store in downtown St. John’s. (Ted Dillon/CBC)
The first legal recreational cannabis has officially been sold in Canada.
In Newfoundland and parts of Labrador, which has a separate timezone from the rest of Canada, midnight comes earlier, and people were ready and waiting for marijuana to be sold to them over the counter.
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October 17, 2018—Morning of Mourning for Canada—More questions than Answers
By Yvonne Sam
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We need not fear a weed apocalypse is nowhere near.
The truth be told, we are so close to October 17, the starting date for Canada’s big weed experiment that you can almost smell it.
While we can already smell it, the occasional luckless user may still be charged by the police—but weed is already almost anywhere. Are we ready?
In fact are governments/ police departments/ suppliers and growers ready for the next few weeks and months. My response lies in the negative—and it is this negative response that augurs for a very interesting next while.
Regrettably there remain a growing number of questions about cannabis use that still remain to be answered. The point in question being, that while the online aspect of legalization appears to be running on schedule, how prepared and ready are the provincial and private retailers to sell the item on the very first day that legal weed is available on the market? Viewed from the standpoint of the long arm of the law, are they going to find themselves transforming into the modern cannabis equivalent of Appalachian “revenuers” on the hunt for weed that is illegal merely because the right taxes have not been paid.
http://www.appalachianhistory.net/2015/07/revenuers-or-spies.html. Will police forces be able to effectively deal with drugged drivers, with their training still not fully complete and many police forces still without roadside drug testing equipment? One has to concede that weed detection warrants inspection, and as we speak it is already an almost unattainable task for police officers to handle the growing scourge of illegal cellphone use/texting by drivers.
What about the weed producers? Are they going to run short as they increase production to meet booming demand? How are human relations and personnel departments going to deal with staff using, and even abusing a now legal product? Who would ensure that patient care is not compromised by a “weeded” personnel.
Will current users who purchase their weed on the black market, transfer to making legal purchases, or would it be easier and facilitator for illegal dealers to remain in business, even in the face of competition from the government. .All in all, cannabis products have been available for years with the east of post office delivery and basically no law enforcement whatsoever. However, let us not forget or overlook the fact that that governments often take fast action, at close to legislative lightning speed, when they feel or suspect that something is threatening a tax stream.
What has seized my surprise in this apocalyptic mess is the manner in which the entire process has steadily steamrollered forward despite the major and obvious hiccups and pitfalls, while less controversial issues that also affect the nation have run aground on much smaller sandbanks. By such, I mean the concept that individuals who purchase and store deadly weapons should have to register them with the government – even though practically no one bats an eye at the need to have licence plates on their car, which was a dissentious enough issue to help overthrow a federal government.
The legalization of marijuana, on the other hand, creates headlines only when there are practical issues that still need to be addressed. It is apparent that we are well past the point where overarching philosophical issues questioning legalization as a whole are even being addressed. And that has not happened with, say, gun registration; even though the long gun registry is long gone since April 5, 2012, any time any registration is raised in any form, opposition rises up almost immediately. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/government-destroys-long-gun-registry
Are we approaching an imminent Weed Apocalypse?
No.
Nevertheless, as is the case with all incomplete plans, there will be a lot of changes, ranging from provincial legislation to federal legislation to municipal bylaws.
Cannabis legalization is very much a work in progress—- A work which continues well after Wednesday’s big legal smoke
Yvonne some try to live smart with what they cannot change by buying the now cheap stock of the marijuana drug producing companies to make a lovely profit years ahead. You cannot hold back the tide so why not enjoy the swim.