Canada now world's largest legal marijuana marketplace
And they're off: Canada starts legal marijuana sales and becomes world's largest national pot marketplace
TORONTO (AP) — Canada has become the second and largest country with a legal national marijuana marketplace.
Sales started just after midnight local time in Newfoundland, Canada's easternmost province. Tom Clarke of Portugal Cove, once an illegal marijuana dealer and now a licensed retailer, was among the first to make a sale.
At least 111 legal pot shops are expected to open across the nation of 37 million people on Wednesday. Canadians also can order marijuana products through websites run by provinces or private retailers and have it delivered by mail.
Hours ahead of legalization taking effect a Canadian government official told The Associated Press anyone convicted for possessing up to 30 grams of weed will be pardoned.
Uruguay was first was the first country to legalize so-called recreational marijuana.