Newfoundland makes first sale of legal recreational marijuana.
Marijuana became legal in Canada at the stroke of midnight in Newfoundland, the time zone that is farthest to the east.
From there, legal weed will cascade to each province and territory every hour — with the exception of Atlantic Canada, where marijuana will be legalized a half hour after it happens in Newfoundland.
The drug is being legalized under the Cannabis Act, which comes into effect on Oct. 17.
The act states that people who are aged 18 years or older can possess up to 30 grams of legal cannabis in its dried or “equivalent non-dried form” in public.
You can also share up to 30 grams of cannabis with other adults.
The act also stipulates that people can buy “dried or fresh cannabis or cannabis oil” from provincially-licensed retailers; where there aren’t brick-and-mortar retailers, you can buy it online from “federally-licensed producers.”
People can likewise grow up to four cannabis plants per home from “licensed seed or seedlings.”
They can also make cannabis-infused food and drinks at home, “as long as organic solvents are not used to create concentrated products.”
The act, however, severely restricts underage people from possessing cannabis.
You could face a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail if you give or sell cannabis to a youth, or if you use a youth to commit a “cannabis related offence.”