October 17 was a momentous day for many as it marked cannabis legalization in Canada and in just one week of legalization it’s been a pretty dramatic week to say the least.

Canadians celebrated the end of cannabis prohibition and millions have flocked to online websites or line up for blocks to buy weed.

Each province in Canada has its own laws such as minimum age, where to buy, whether you can grow, who can sell, and where you can smoke.

It’s fair to say that the first week had a lot of speed bumps and caused much frustration between cannabis buyers and provincial mandated sellers, especially in Ontario.

Let’s take a look at what happened since cannabis was legalized just 7 days ago.

1. Canada’s first customer

Ian Powers of St. Johns, Newfoundland will go down in the cannabis history books as the first person in Canada to purchase weed in Canada.

Now relieved of not risking being involved in criminal activity, Ian was excited to openly buy weed from an authorized store and end the transaction with a receipt.

Since he has become an icon on such a momentous day in Canadian history maybe he deserves to have a strain with his namesake. I’m thinking the Ian powers should be a sativa and I’ll have one gram please.

2. 1st ticket issued for smoking in vehicle only 1 hour after legalization.

While it’s possible that many still aren’t familiar with the rules yet, it only took 1 hour for the first cannabis law to be broken.

Winnipeg police issued a ticket for $672 the morning of legalization for smoking cannabis in a motor vehicle. There have been no of this same violation across the rest of the country.

Across Canada, the government is working hard to educate the public on the provincial bylaws related to cannabis which are unique.

I suppose whoever the person who received the ticket will go down in the history books for a much less popular “first ever” after legalization.

3. Ontario Cannabis Store website mislabels genital spray as oral

The Ontario Cannabis Store certainly had a rocky start to say the least. Since Ontario is the most populated province in Canada, it was certainly disappointing for many cannabis users who were let down for several reasons with the website.

Amid the online frustration there was comic relief when the OCS store went viral on social media as it accidentally listed a cannabis-infused “intimate” spray. The description on how to apply the product stated it was for sublingual use which generally means under the tongue instead of applied to the genitals.

Twitter exploded over the mistake which resulted in several thousand tweets and shares. Despite the blunder you can argue that it certainly resulted in creating a buzz about the website or the product created by Hexo Corp.

4. Ontario Cannabis Store experiencing glitches

Aside from mislabeling products, the Ontario Cannabis Store was under fire as the first day resulted in several glitches and at one point crashed.

This site was flooded by 1.3 million unique visitors on the first day and resulted in 100,000 orders which was more than double when compared to Quebec’s website which received just over 40,000 orders. But this is understandable since Ontario unlike other provinces does not have brick and mortar stores to buy weed.

Due to high demand, the Ontario Cannabis Store has also been lit up with complaints due to the slow delivery and wrong shipments.

One customer who placed her order on the night of legalization found out four days later that her order was cancelled when she called OCS customer service.

As the Ontario Cannabis store adjusts to the demand it’s likely a brick and mortar cannabis store won’t be available in Ontario for several months.

 

4. Cannabis stocks plunge

Cannabis stocks have been a hot topic over the last year and early investors have certainly seen some rewarding returns.

Many have speculated that once cannabis would become legalized that the stocks would skyrocket. Unfortunately this couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Marijuana stocks dropped the same day as legalization and things only got worse. Major cannabis companies such as Canopy, Aurora, Chronos and Aphria stocks have dropped almost 30% over the last week.

The market has been a roller coaster ride over the last year and it’s hard to determine how stocks will fluctuate on a day to day basis. One thing is for sure, this will be a booming industry and one that may be worth investing in.

Final Thoughts

Cannabis legalization has certainly brought happiness to the country along with frustration on how it was rolled out.

If you have any excited cannabis related topics you’d like us to cover please leave a comment below.

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