October 17 was supposed to change Canada. Legalizing recreational pot marked a huge shift in the country’s justice system, tax revenues, the affairs of the federal government, provincial legislation, bylaws and dozens more aspects of policy. But is life in Canada really any different now that recreational marijuana is legal? As October 17 loomed, it seemed there were dozens of things that could go wrong. Two months later…how much of that concern was founded? And where does the pot industry go from here?
In 2019, Ontario will see storefronts open for the first time, Canada will add edibles to the list of pot products it sells, and dozens of municipalities will pass or modify laws governing how they handle that subject. This is an evolving business. All of that is important, but is the biggest news story around legal pot the fact that there really hasn’t been a big news story since legalization? And if Canada can handle a change like this seamlessly, what does that say about pot prohibition elsewhere in the world?
GUEST: Shauna Hunt, CityNews reporter, host of The Legal Potcast