NHL players say the legalization of marijuana in Canada won’t change how they go about their business.

With recreational cannabis set to become legal across the country on Wednesday, NHLers are aware of the change, but not concerned it will impact them for the time being.

“I think it’s just a new concept that everyone’s trying to wrap their head around,” Toronto Maple Leafs centre Nazem Kadri said. ”We just treat the rules as they have been in the past.”

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said last month that pot legalization won’t affect the league’s drug-testing policy run in conjunction with the NHL Players’ Association.

Scientists are hustling on behalf of the marijuana industry to find new ways to produce the most valuable compounds in marijuana, ditching greenhouses in favor of big steel vats of yeast that can "brew" cannabis like Budweiser brews beer.

The science, once it hits the market, would be a gold mine for those who perfect it, giving two separate industries -- pharmaceutical and legal cannabis -- stable, potent and cheap sources of the ingredients they need.

If you could look into a crystal ball to see the future of drug-impaired driving on Ontario roads come October 17, you might see Colorado.

Since cannabis was legalized there four years ago, statistics on marijuana and driving compiled by the state found that more than 20 per cent of drivers involved in fatal accidents had some level of cannabis in their system.

And a survey this year of more than 15,000 cannabis users in the state found that nearly 70 per cent of them had driven under the influence of marijuana at least once in the past year. Forty per cent of them said they didn’t think it affected their ability to drive.

"Going green" has taken on an entirely new meaning in 2018. In just nine days, on Oct. 17, 2018, Canada will be lifting the curtain on more than nine decades of cannabis prohibition. Beginning next Wednesday, adults aged 18 or 19 (depending on the province) will be free to purchase recreational marijuana in licensed dispensaries or online. It'll also make Canada the first industrialized country in the world, and only second overall behind Uruguay, to legalize recreational weed.

As we get closer to recreational legalization in Canada on October 17, cannabis companies are increasingly interested in an up-listing to a major U.S. stock exchange. A listing to a U.S. exchange would generally allow for more liquidity and could slightly boost the share price, as the stock is now accessible to a broader range of investors. Tilray Inc.

Canada’s national legalization of marijuana has put it at odds with the United States where, despite growing state-level legalization, marijuana remains strictly illegal at the federal level. It was inevitable that the different approaches to marijuana would create friction between the two countries. It appears increasingly likely that this friction will be felt most acutely at the border.

The CEO of California-based marijuana producer and seller Terra Tech is watching the cannabis industry boom north of the border with more than a little apprehension — because he is already seeing the beginnings of an invasion of U.S. markets by Canada's cannabis firms, today the world's largest.

"The concern for some of the players is the market will be dominated by Canadian companies, shareholders and banks if we allow too much time to pass," Peterson said by phone from California.

With Canada set to legalize recreational marijuana on Oct. 17, Canadian cannabis stock prices have soared, giving these startup firms enormous amounts of money with which to invest in their business.

This will cause a lot of trouble, to say the least. Crossing the border has always been a tense experience. For the thousands of Canadians who will be joining the legalized cannabis industry, it’s going to become even more harrowing.

Even though cannabis has been legalized for recreational or medical use in 30 U.S. states, the federal government still views it as a controlled substance. American border guards have immense latitude over who they let enter the country. If you’re not a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident, your rights at the border are very limited. Border guards have every right to ask you about your employment, drug use or even your investments.

With the Oct. 17 legalization of cannabis looming, many parents are at a loss about how best to approach the issue of pot usage with their kids — and about the place, if any, for the newly legal substance at home.

“I’ve been thinking about it for quite a while, about how to start broaching the topic,” says Ainslie, a Sudbury mother of two who did not want her full name used.

“I don’t know what to say,” she says, adding that her eldest child, now 12, is keenly aware decriminalization is coming. Ainslie’s uncertainty is being felt in countless homes across the country, says Dr. Karen Leslie, an adolescent medicine specialist at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.

Canadians involved in the legal cannabis industry are facing deep potholes on the road to entering the United States — and immigration lawyers say the federal government needs to help them navigate a way through.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency sent tremors through the country’s burgeoning cannabis sector last week with word that legalization in Canada won’t change the fact that American laws treat marijuana as a banned substance, and industry insiders as drug traffickers.

Despite the fact that some jurisdictions in North America permit the use of medical and recreational marijuana, U.S. federal law continues to prohibit its sale, possession, production and distribution, an agency spokesperson said in a statement.