As Canadians across the country line up to do their civic duty and vote in the Federal election, voters in two Ontario ridings will have the option to show their enthusiasm for marijuana.

Paul Coulbeck (Chatham-Leamington) and Terry Parker (Parkdale-High Park) are both running for the Marijuana Party of Canada and would like to see the country’s Cannabis Act repealed because of the way it has rolled out across Canada.

As the RCMP and local police across Canada deal with rising drug-impaired driving rates and prepare for even more with the legalization of new cannabis products, edibles may not be detected in oral fluid testing.

James Wigmore, a forensic toxicologist who specializes on the effects of drinking and using cannabis, said the science behind it may also explain why edibles can cause more psychoactive effects in some users.

“When smoking, you don’t get the intermediate metabolite … the cannabis goes into your lungs and avoids the liver,” he said in a phone interview.

The intermediate metabolite he’s referring to is 11-hydroxy THC.

The former lead of the federally-appointed task force for the legalization of cannabis says the first year has gone "extremely well" but there are "yellow flags veering to red" on vaping as laws governing the next wave of pot products come into force.

Anne McLellan, the former deputy prime minister and head of the team of experts assembled by the Liberal government to make recommendations on how recreational pot should be legalized, said the growing number of vaping-related illnesses on both sides of the border is giving her pause.

"Do we get to red, as a federal regulator whose first priorities are health and safety of the consuming public?" she said in an interview.

The regulation of cannabis vape pens in Canada arrives in the middle of widespread concern over an outbreak of serious lung ailments and deaths linked to vaping.

U.S. health officials have reported 1,299 cause of lung injuries and 26 deaths. In Canada, two confirmed and three probable cases of vaping-related lung illness have been reported as of Oct. 17.

Most of the victims in the U.S. had been vaping THC, the chemical component of cannabis that causes the high, according to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vaping products containing THC, especially those purchased from illicit or informal sources, “play a major role in the outbreak,” according to the agency.

Police, lawyers and advocates say that one year into cannabis legalization, Canada has a long way to go toward stamping out the black market and pot-impaired driving.

“We can’t call it a success at this point,” Chief Const. Mike Serr of the Abbotsford, B.C., police department said of the law change a year ago Thursday.

He said organized crime’s market share and youth consumption have not yet fallen, and tools to detect stoned drivers are still lacking.

But Serr, who also co-chairs the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police drug advisory committee, said resources and workloads have not changed much.

“When you talk to chiefs all across the country, the sky didn’t fall.”

One year after recreational cannabis was legalized in Canada, Manitoba RCMP have started to see more Criminal Code investigations related to driving while high — but it's still too early to tell what's behind the increase, said RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Paul Manaigre.

Overall, from when cannabis was legalized on Oct. 17, 2018, to Wednesday, there have been 329 pot-related charges laid by Mounties in Manitoba. Of these, 224 were for unlawful transportation of cannabis in a vehicle, while 19 were for consuming it in a vehicle. 

Another 56 were handed out for cannabis-related offences under the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Control Act, and 30 were cannabis-related Criminal Code investigations for impaired driving — with several more still pending toxicology results.

Local governments in B.C. are spending millions on administration, planning and enforcement related to recreational cannabis, but are still waiting for the province to share the spoils of legalization.

Thursday marks a year since cannabis was legalized in Canada, and the issue of how the province will share with municipalities the provincial percentage of the federal excise tax that is applied to medical and non-medical cannabis has been outstanding since before legalization.

“It’s very important to our members,” said Sooke Mayor Maja Tait, who is president of the Union of B.C. Municipalities. “Many scrambled to provide the framework, to have it in place, and we were all under the understanding that we would receive some of this revenue.”

A winner from Ontario’s second pot lottery who was planning to open a cannabis retail store in northwest London has been disqualified.

Robert Chomiak submitted a proposal to open a recreational pot shop in a commercial plaza at 1310 Fanshawe Park Rd. W. in Hyde Park.

There already are three brick-and-mortar marijauana stores operating in London – the only municipality in Southwestern Ontario to land any of the first 25 outlets – and the city was on track to score another two following the second lottery in the summer.

But Chomiak’s application – one of 42 selected from nearly 5,000 expressions of interest – was disqualified last Thursday, says the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), the province’s pot regulator.

On the first anniversary of Canadian cannabis legalization, "Legalization 2.0" or "Cannabis 2.0" will allow popular cannabis derivatives like edibles, infused beverages, and vapes to legally be bought and sold nationwide.

A year after Canada legalized use of recreational marijuana cannabis stocks have lost half their market value, and investors betting that the launch of higher-margin pot-infused drinks and other products will quickly lift shares may be in for a bumpy ride.

So-called cannabis 2.0 - legalization of marijuana derivatives including edibles, beverages, extracts and vape pens - takes effect on Thursday, with sales seen beginning in mid-December. While that is expected to help sagging share prices, the crucial factor for a turnaround is a significant increase in the number of stores selling the products, investors, companies and analysts said.