Canada Just Legalized Recreational Marijuana. Here's What That Means for You.

Learn the regulations before you take a trip up north.

Unofficial Counterculture Marijuana Holiday Celebrated
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Canada has got us beat again. It is proud of its healthcare system. It elects charismatic leaders who can wear the hell out of a suit. And now, it has made recreational weed legal throughout its great nation. The view from down here isn't so great. It is also clouded up with smoke.

Today, October 17, marks the first day that recreational marijuana can be purchased throughout Canada, per legislation passed in June. Canada is only the second country in the world to legalize weed, after Uruguay. It is the first country whose weed laws will have a substantial effect on Americans. Here's what citizens in the States need to know before taking a weed vacation up north.

These are Canada's marijuana guidelines.

Marijuana is legal for adults 18 and older in Canada, although territories can make their own laws. You can have up to 30 grams of dried cannabis on you (or the equivalent amount if it isn't dried), and you can share up to 30 grams with legal adults. Only licensed retailers can sell cannabis. And each person in Canada is allowed to grow up to four cannabis plants for personal use—but not for selling. Driving while impaired is prohibited.

But the laws are different throughout Canada.

Because the Canadian government is letting provinces and cities set up their own marijuana laws, what and where you can do it depends on the local. For example, in many provinces like British Columbia and Ontario, you have to be 19 to buy and use marijuana. In New Brunswick you can only use it in private residences. In some provinces, you can only use it in public spaces if tobacco use is also permitted there. Canada's CBC has a useful tool for figuring it all out. Do your homework.

Selling edibles remains illegal throughout the country.

Canada is putting off regulating edibles for at least a year. You can make them on your own, but retailers cannot package and sell them.

There aren't weed shops on every corner.

Not yet, at least. British Columbia, where the most weed is smoked in Canada, will only have one shop open today. Ontario won't have any. The government will license more and more shops as time passes.


Everyone can buy marijuana online.

No matter which province you're in, if you are of legal age, you can buy marijuana online. Private retailers and government-run shops have websites. But experts warn that heightened demand could lead to shortages and long wait times for product to arrive.

Don't bring it across the border.

Yeah, that's not a good idea, even if you're returning to a state where it is legalized. Marijuana is still illegal under federal law in the States, remember? At the most, you'll be prosecuted. At the least, you'll get slapped with a hefty fine for as much as $5,000. But you can fly with up to 30 grams within Canada if you don't leave Canadian airspace.

Don't convince any Canadians to do it, either.

The United States border patrol isn't fucking around. It made it clear before Canada's law went into effect that Canadians who use marijuana, work in the marijuana industry, or invest in marijuana risk a lifetime ban from America, Politico reports. In the eyes of the U.S. government, they're drug traffickers. Border patrol agents won't necessarily be quizzing each traveler on their drug habits unless given a reason, but it's still good to know.

Get ready for all the cool Canadian marijuana products.

Because it has the friendliest laws in the land, Canada has become a lab for marijuana innovation and investment. Keep an eye out for cannabis beer, drinks infused with THC, and more.

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