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O Cannabis! Canada legalizes marijuana with rocky roll out

Canada's legalization of recreational marijuana could have impacts on both sides of the border.
(Photo: KING)

One store. That's what government officials in British Columbia are rolling out on day one, as recreational marijuana becomes legal nationwide.

The store, owned and operated by the Canadian government is open in a shopping plaza in Kamloops, B.C. Canada becomes only the second nation in the world behind Uruguay, to fully legalize recreational marijuana.

But it will be a slow rollout of the new laws, and in many cases, a mess of bureaucracy and conflicting interests.

"We're going to have a big mish-mash," said Bert Hick, former general manager of B.C.'s Liquor Control and Licensing Branch.

Hick also now works as a consultant for applicants looking to open a recreational pot shop of their own.

"There's a bit of a land rush right now a lot of people want to open stores in various locations," he said. "Laws are all over the place. We shouldn't have different municipalities with so many different citing criteria and differences between the provinces."

Medicinal pot shops ordered to close

Canadian government officials are warning unlicensed pot shops to close their doors or risk being shut down. Currently, dozens of medical marijuana stores exist and are not licensed under the new recreational marijuana laws.

Don Briere, owner of Weeds in Vancouver, owns five of them.

"We are standing our ground," said Briere, 67, who said he is well within his rights to stay open and continue supporting patients.

"We have several legal teams, we have support from politicians and we have support from police," he said.

Currently, there are around 70 medical pot shops like Briere's in Vancouver.

A whole new market

In the U.S., many business owners are standing ready to jump into the new Canadian market too.

Currently, Canada is the world's 10th largest economy and by far the largest country to legalize recreational cannabis. That creates a big opportunity for some to make money with all the extra shelf space.

"It's tremendous, we say we are in front of a tsunami and we need a bigger surf board," said Kelly Ogilvie, CEO and co-founder of Deep Cell. Ogilvie is now licensing his product Ruby Cannabis Sugar to a Canadian company which will eventually have the product on store shelves nationwide when edibles become legal sometime in 2019.

"This is a watershed moment in the end of prohibition globally for cannabis," Ogilvie said. "You see lot of countries like the U.S, Mexico and parts of the eurozone looking at Canada to see what's going to happen so they can legalize there as well."

Problems at the border

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials warn cannabis is still illegal at the border, despite legalization in both British Columbia and Washington state.

The age to purchase in B.C. is 19 and 21 in Washington. There is concern that 19 and 20-year-olds will enter Canada to purchase cannabis and attempt to bring it back over the border.

In a statement, U.S. CBP said, "Although medical and recreational marijuana may be legal in some U.S. States and Canada, the sale, possession, production and distribution of marijuana or the facilitation of the aforementioned remain illegal under U.S. Federal Law."

In response, Western Washington University in Bellingham is conducting a new student survey that assesses students cross-border behavior and knowledge about the new law.

Laurie Trautman, director of the Border Policy Research Institute at WWU said that also includes increasing awareness to students who may be considering a trip to B.C.

Pressure on the U.S.

It's still too soon to tell what kind of impact legalization in Canada may have on the U.S. government to eventually lift the federal ban as well.

"No doubt it will be a campaign issue in 2020," said Ogilvie.

The U.S. is gradually seeing more and more states legalize pot. Nine states and Washington D.C., have legalized marijuana for recreational use for adults over the age of 21. Medical marijuana is legal in another 30 states.

Support for the drug reached new highs in 2018. A Gallup poll shows 64 percent of Americans favor legalization and even a majority of Republicans back the idea.

Legal marijuana sales exploded to $9.7 billion in North America in 2017.

Washington state collected around $315 million in marijuana excise tax revenue in that same time.

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