Sitting on a bench outside the Hunny Pot, the first cannabis retailer to open its doors in Toronto, three friends spark a pre-rolled joint they bought inside only moments earlier.

This scene wouldn’t have been possible little more than a year ago. Smoking cannabis in public wasn’t legal, neither was buying it in brick-and-mortar shops. Back then, the retail space that now houses dozens of dry leaf and oil products was only used to host the occasional pop-event after long-time tenant New Era, a hat retailer, vacated it.

We're going to have to evolve on a weekly basis

October 17, 2019, marks the first anniversary of the legalization of cannabis federally in Canada, and the date when the second phase of products — edibles, extracts, topicals and some other alternative cannabis products also become legal. 

Each province and territory were handed the reins for rolling out legalization, and the results in terms of access to legal marijuana are very different for Canadians depending on where they live. This has also had an impact on consumption patterns.

12 months after Canada legalized cannabis, sales of legal marijuana are expected to total $1 billion for the first year, according to figures reported by the Associated Press. That is considerably less than Canada’s illicit market, where weed sales are estimated as being between $5 and $7 billion.

One obvious explanation for that disparity? The difference in cost.

“One customer told me, ‘I love you and I want to support you, but I can’t buy all my cannabis here. It’s too expensive,’” said Jeremy Jacob, the co-owner of a Vancouver marijuana store, as quoted by the Associated Press. “The black-market producers are being well rewarded by legalization.”

Cannabis edibles, extracts and topicals became legal today, adding to the wealth of new ways Canadians can toke, sip and munch on weed.

As spoilt as the consumer will be once the new products hit store shelves by mid-December, a new national study found only half of Canadians feel they know how to use cannabis.

One year into the legalization of marijuana, the SQDC plans to reduce prices, eliminate lineups, bring in cannabis drinks and continue to take business away from the black market.

The head of the Société québécoise du cannabis gave a sit-down interview to the Gazette to mark the first anniversary of legalized cannabis in Canada on Thursday. SQDC president and director Jean-François Bergeron said ending the lineups at its busiest store, in downtown Montreal, is a top priority.

“Queues are not good. Good stores run without queues. We have worked a lot to get rid of these queues; they’re not good for our image.”

A new Canada-wide study on adult use-cannabis—released a day in advance of legalization’s first anniversary—indicates that respondents believe cannabis to be more socially acceptable than last year. Still, surveyed Canadians wish they were more knowledgeable about the drug.

Canna-curious Canadians are performing online searches and asking family or friends for information about recreational cannabis, per the study, which was performed by Maru/Blue, a national data services and research company. The study was commissioned by FIGR Inc., a Prince Edward Island-based licensed producer.

Canadians wanting to cross the U.S. border are being asked different marijuana questions than they were before cannabis was legal, says an American immigration lawyer who represents numerous aging baby boomers denied entry to America for past pot use.

Recreational marijuana will have been legal for a year on Thursday, but any celebrating still stops at the U.S. border, said Len Saunders, a Canadian-born lawyer based in Blaine, Wash.

“They are not asking questions of recent use because they know they can’t deny the person because it’s legal in Canada,” he said. Instead, he said they’re asking Canadians if they have ever smoked marijuana and that’s what’s been keeping him busy.

Weed smokers living in Quebec are about to see much lower prices in the legal market. Starting tomorrow, cannabis company HEXO is rolling out a new line of ultra-affordable flower.

Ultimately, the new product line will give Canadians a chance to purchase larger quantities of weed. Additionally, the weed will be sold at super-low prices that work out to be less than $5 per gram.

New regulations for cannabis edibles and topicals come into effect on Oct. 17, with products expected to reach store shelves in December

Here’s what consumers and parents need to know

“Edibles” is the umbrella term for cannabis-infused products, which can include beverages, cotton candy, dissolvable strips, gummy candies or baked goods. And topicals are products which can include lotions, balms, and oils absorbed through the skin for relief of pain or inflammation, according to Leafly.