April 20^th saw what is to be the last 4/20 celebration in Canada before legalization takes place this summer.

4/20 has long been an annual celebration of cannabis culture around the world, typically associated with sticking it to the man and defying the laws that have hindered people from using the plant. This year however, with legalization planned in a few months, the celebration took a different tone.  

Protesters have shifted their concern away from legalizing marijuana to protesting how the government plans to implement legalization.

What a difference a year or so makes.

Right now, as we speak, criminal cases are wending their way through Canada’s court system for individuals who were caught running “dial-a-dope” businesses. In case you’ve not run into that term before, it’s people who run a phone service to sell drugs. You dial, place an order, set up a meeting, hand over the money and get the goods.

If it’s a police officer on the other end of the line instead of a regular customer, the handover might end up with the seller in jail.

Now, with the changes in cannabis laws, it looks like our provincial liquor monopoly is getting into the dial-a-dope business as well, but you’ll be dialing this dealer on the internet, and delivery will be even more convenient.

As U.S. and Canadian government policies toward marijuana grow more divergent amid Canada's push for legalization, their stock exchanges have seen a flurry of cross-listing activity from companies eager to snap up investment capital and carve out dominant positions in a growing global market.

Marijuana producers that operate in U.S. states where pot is legal are prevented from public listings in their home country because the drug is prohibited at the federal level, so they turn their focus north for a legal avenue to raise public capital.

There are four, 12-inch industrial air filters attached to the ceiling of the Puffin Hutt at 268 Water St.

The air filters keep the smoke of customers at a reasonable level as they sit, relax and get stoned on cannabis they brought from home — the Puffin Hutt does not sell cannabis products.

In the mid-afternoon on Friday, about 80 cannabis enthusiasts were in the lounge, the former home of the Stetson and, most recently, Velvet Nightclub.

At 4:20 p.m. on April 20, the four, 12-inch industrial air filters were turned off.

Each customer lit their cannabis cigarette and let the smoke fill the room.

Shortly thereafter, the fog over St. John’s harbour was merely the second-thickest fog in the city.

With signs in hand, a half-dozen people marched down Charlotte Street on Friday to the sounds of cheers and honking car horns from onlookers showing their support.

They were marching as part of an an event called 4/20, an annual celebration of cannabis culture where participants attempt to bring a wider understanding of marijuana to the public.

Muggy weather didn’t stop passersby from joining the group on its trek down to the Wentworth Park bandshell, and by the end of the march 16 people stood together in solidarity.

The 4/20 celebration is important for many users of marijuana as a way to show support for legalization for recreational use, but Sydney’s first Medical Marijuana March was focused on a different idea, says march organizer Cory Mombourquette.

Users should be aware of cannabis risks, says pharmacists' association. Pharmacists on P.E.I. are reminding Islanders that just because marijuana will become legal doesn't mean there are no health risks. Erin MacKenzie, executive director of the PEI Pharmacists Association, said there are medications that can be problematic when combined with cannabis. "Certainly compounding drowsiness or the ability to make good judgments, those types of things would be compounded with other medications that have those risks as well," she said. Cannabis consumption can be particularly harmful for people under the age of 25 because it can interfere with their brain development, MacKenzie said.

Some boards hope the province will step in to provide more clarity on the issue.

With the prospect of legalized cannabis looming in Ontario, condominium boards throughout the GTA are rushing to figure out how to respond to a law that will permit residents to grow up to four plants inside their homes. 

"We don't want to set up a system where anyone can just grow four plants and then it becomes a problem of overpopulation across units," said Tim Gordanier, a condo board president.

There's about 240 units inside Gordanier's Corktown building. Like many homeowners in the city who share walls and common areas, Gordanier is concerned about how indoor cultivation could affect a building's structure and value.

'I'm just standing near a pile of spaghetti so I guess we are going to have the birds coming in soon'

Vancouver clean-up crews worked overnight to tidy Sunset Beach park after 4/20 celebrations attracted 40,000 revellers who left their mark on the football-sized field, a park board official said.

Every year, the marijuana protest party brings thousands to this site, but park board officials don't sanction it, and say they wish organizers would move 4/20 on to a spot that's more suitable, such as the PNE.

This was touted as the last 4/20 before legalization, as new rules about pot are expected by summer from Ottawa.

Thousands of Canadians across the country are preparing to attend 4-20 events this year, even though cannabis consumption in Canada will soon be legal. But in Calgary, the privilege of smoking up in public will not be extended to everyone of legal age — not on 4-20, and not following legalization.

Legal, regulated marijuana retail sales are coming to Canada very soon, but lighting up your newly purchased Ontario Cannabis Store spliff in your condo or apartment could be — or may already be — prohibited (depending on where you live).

Many condo boards have yet to determine how to cope with cannabis use in the building.