Marijuana Sold On Canada Government Websites After Legalization, Sparking Delight On Twitter

Canadians can legally buy marijuana in their country starting Oct. 17, but before they prepare to do so, it is important to find out where they can or cannot purchase weed from.

While the consumption of weed has been legalized nationwide, the rules for doing so is not the same throughout 10 provinces and three territories in Canada.

For example, while the legal age to purchase cannabis was 19 years everywhere else, provinces such as Alberta and Quebec have fixed the minimum limit at 18.

Similarly, while all the provinces as well as territories in Canada have their own government-run online as well as physical stores from where one can easily buy cannabis, not all places allow private retailers to sell weed yet.

Needless, people were thrilled at the prospect of legally buying weed from government stores — especially since marijuana-lovers had to resort to black market channels till Monday to buy the product. Excited social media users took to Twitter to share their reactions at having bought weed legally in Canada:

Even government-run websites were different from one another. In OCS, the website controlled by Ontario government, price for one gram of cannabis ranged from $7.50 to $13.25. The price range for the same amount of weed in official BC Cannabis stores (for British Columbia) was between $6.99 and $13.99, according to Canadian news outlets City News and CTV News.

Also, while both OCS and BC Cannabis will sell marijuana products such as the dried flower, cannabis oils, capsules and pre-rolled joints, the former will also sell accessories such as vaporizers, bongs, pipes, cleaning supplies and grinders.

Then there are province-specific rules on the limitations on how much marijuana an individual can possess, that might vary from the confines of one’s home to public places. For instance, in Quebec a person can have up to 150 grams at home, while in most other provinces one is allowed to possess up to 30 grams of weed.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has created a handy interactive tool to find out the rules and regulations of buying and storing weed in various provinces and territories. All one needs to do is select the place one is from a drop down menu and a chart containing specifications such as age limit, sales locations, smoking locations and possession show up.

One can use the tool the here.

Canada is the second country to legalize marijuana, the first one being Uruguay in 2013. The rules on the consumption of marijuana have been decriminalized in countries such as Czech Republic, Switzerland, North Korea, Argentina and Jamaica, although commercial cultivation and sale of cannabis is still strictly forbidden in these countries, Independent reported.

In the United States, 29 states have legalized medical marijuana so far, with California being the first one to do so in 1996.