Recreational pot is now legal in Canada

Cannabis items for sale in Montreal.
(Image credit: Martin Oulette-Diotte/AFP/Getty Images)

As of midnight Wednesday, it is legal to possess and use recreational marijuana in Canada.

Provinces and territories will set the parameters of where pot can be purchased and consumed in their boundaries, and the government has sent out mailers to households across Canada notifying them of the new cannabis laws. While adults will be able to purchase dried weed and cannabis oil from licensed producers and retailers, it will be illegal to possess more than 30 grams in public, grow more than four plants in a household, and buy from an unlicensed dealer.

The first legal purchase was made in St. John's, Newfoundland, and while the nationwide market is open, it's not going to be easy to buy in some places; in Ontario, for example, retail stores won't open until the spring, BBC News reports, although residents can order online. In British Columbia, there will just be one legal store open on Wednesday. Edibles will be available for purchase within the next year.

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Marijuana possession became a crime in Canada in 1923, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has argued that laws criminalizing marijuana haven't done anything to curb use. Marijuana has been legal for medical use in the country since 2001. With this new law, Canada becomes the second country after Uruguay to make it legal to possess and use recreational marijuana. The government predicts it will earn $400 million in tax revenues from the sale of marijuana every year.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.