Canada’s October 17th Legal cannabis – On June 20th 2018 the Government of Canada passed the final vote on Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act – given Royal Assent on June 21st. Since then, each province and territory in the country has been scrambling to put together their own set of guidelines on its sales and use, trickling all the way down to the municipalities, who in turn are creating their own rules. Canada’s October 17th Legal cannabis is enough to make everyone a bit dizzy – without even having inhaled that first puff.

Adding a little more to the full pipe of controversy are the legal challenges expected to take place in areas contravening the Federal Act – especially at the municipal levels where in some places they are making it near to impossible to smoke anywhere unless one is fortunate to own their own home, leaving the majority of users at a loss. On the other hand, there are a significant number of users who seem to think they have a right to blatantly smoke pot anywhere they want, imposing not only the pungent smell of the herb on others, but also the second-hand smoke effect, which when inhaled offers more than just tobacco – and that is fact.

Another very important issue not yet addressed, concerns the medicinal use of cannabis and how it will be enforced under the new drug-impaired driving laws – which include roadside saliva tests. Medicinal users (who often use cannabis in the form of oil or edibles) are not ‘high’ when driving and in complete control, when used responsibly and correctly – as one builds up a natural tolerance over a short period of time. But their THC levels could be perceived as way over the limit – should they receive fines or lose their license? It would be unfair.

One thing for certain, when the stores open and pipes are slowly lit starting at midnight on October 17th 2018 in Newfoundland, becoming fully legal across the entire country 4 hours and 30 minutes later in British Columbia – many issues will still need to be addressed.