Millions of dollars worth of marijuana plants sat under lamps brighter than the noonday sun as employees of Canada’s largest cannabis business bustled about the 47 giant growing rooms of its factory, which once made Hershey bars.

Now it’s home to Tweed, whose parent company, Canopy Growth, was the first Canadian marijuana grower to debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

Valued at more than $10 billion, Canopy is worth even more than Bombardier, the Canadian manufacturer that is one of the world’s largest makers of planes and trains, offering a stark example of this nation’s new get-rich-quick hope — the marijuana industry.

How'd we get here?

Two words: Justin Trudeau. Three years ago, in the federal election, he promised to legalize recreational pot use. After the Liberals won, the new government immediately set about to fufill that pledge.

Earlier in the day, at a media briefing across from Parliament Hill, bureaucrats from seven federal departments patiently answered questions about the thousands of rules and regulations that will govern the sale of cannabis.

And at a scrappy end of Merivale Road, an engaging young man in red running shoes sat in the waiting room of an illegal marijuana dispensary, chatting about the stigma that still surrounds the evil weed.

As the arrival of legal cannabis looms, school boards across Ontario are grappling with how to discuss the drug with underage students barred from consuming it while ensuring rules and policies reflect the province's new legal and social reality.

Like alcohol, recreational cannabis will be off-limits to those under 19 and banned from school property when it becomes legal on Wednesday, and school boards say they are working to update their codes of conduct and disciplinary processes to reflect the details of provincial law.

Many boards say they are also training staff to deal with questions and issues surrounding cannabis both in and out of the classroom as they await further direction from the government.

Ninety-five years of marijuana prohibition comes to an end Wednesday.

The change makes Canada the second country in the world (after Uruguay) to legalize recreational pot — and the first G7 nation to do so.

Here's a throwback to Ottawa's hot-and-cold-and-hot again relationship with weed.

1923

There's no fantastic story for how marijuana became prohibited in Canada. The origins of this decision trace back to a single statement by health minister Henri-Séverin Béland, according to the Library of Parliament.

It's no secret that Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC) and other Canadian marijuana growers would love to expand into the huge U.S. market. But marijuana remains illegal at the federal level in the U.S. As long as this remains the case, Canopy and its peers won't be able to directly enter the U.S.

Canada's new law legalizing recreational cannabis goes into force on Wednesday. Here are five things about what's legal and what's not under this historic piece of legislation:

1. Can't vote, can't toke: The legal age for consuming cannabis is at least 18 or 19, depending on the province. The Justice Department says the age restrictions are in keeping with, "a strict legal framework for controlling the production, distribution, sale and possession of pot." Of the three priorities the department cites for accomplishing those goals, the top one is keeping cannabis "out of the hands of youth."

Canada is legalizing adult use of marijuana on Oct. 17 and will be the second and largest country to do so.

The federal government established the broad outline of the legalization law but left it up to provinces and territories to fill in some of the details – such as whether to allow home grows, to establish a legal purchase age of 18 or 19, and whether to sell through government-run pot shops or private outlets.

Here’s a look at how the industry will look, as well as some key differences between Canada’s approach and that of the nine U.S. states that have legalized so-called recreational marijuana:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says Canadian citizens working in the cannabis industry should be able to enter the U.S. for reasons unrelated to the marijuana industry.

The agency updated its website Tuesday, providing a measure of clarity after a vague statement last month left the industry and investors facing uncertainty about travel of any kind to the U.S.

That statement sparked weeks of confusion and rumours that those tied to the cannabis industry could face lifetime bans from the U.S.

Starting a week today, people in Ontario will be able to legally buy marijuana at a government-run online store, with the product delivered to customers for a $5 delivery fee using Canada Post. 

Officials with the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) held a technical briefing with reporters today, less than a week before recreational cannabis use becomes legal in Canada on Wednesday. 

Visitors to the site must first enter their birth date to confirm they're older than 19. The age is then verified using identification upon delivery.