Canada Cannabis

by Deb Spilko

On October 17, 2018, recreational cannabis will become legal in Canada.

If you are planning on heading up to Ontario for some cannabis tourism, you may want to hold off. Although Canadian residents will be able to order online as soon as it becomes legal, it will apparently not be available through Ontario retail outlets until sometime next spring.

Other provinces will be handling it their own way.

If you want to be kept up to date, visit Ontario.ca and see this article "Cannabis Legalization."

Regardless of how one buys it while in Canada, it is not wise to attempt to bring your purchase back into the US. While Canada is legalizing cannabis, US Customs will still treat it as a crime .If US Customs finds you in possession when you cross back into the US, you will be in trouble. I'm especially directing this at younger people or folks who haven't crossed the border before, and may not understand that that the US-Canada border crossing should be taken seriously. It is not just a glorified toll booth. You will encounter border guards who will question you and have the right to search your luggage, and, if they have cause-or the mood strikes them-they can also search your vehicle or your body. They also have drug sniffing dogs. Experiences vary, so just because your neighbor had a mellow border experience, on't assume it will go the same way for everybody. Add to this the Trump administration's open hostility to Canada (and their even stronger hostility to the Canadian cannabis industry), and it's only prudent to expect stepped up efforts on the US side.

Not trying to be a party pooper, just want to make you aware.

Read more at:

Ontario.ca "Cannabis Legalization."

"In a month, pot will be legal. But the list of rules has never been longer" (André Picard ,Globe and Mail, Sept. 17. 2018)

About the Author

Deb Spilko Deb created most of the written content of the EGN during all but its last year in print form and for much of that time was the main editor as well. She was also responsible for writing the grant application that essentially helped bring the EGN into existence. She has continued to write informational articles and compilations of entertainment and resource listings for the web site and has returned as writer and co-editor of the current print edition.