Since mid-2018, the legalization of cannabis for recreational use across Canada has changed, but how?
Canada took a major decision to completely legalize recreational cannabis use. They have had medicinal marijuana since 2010, but it was a big decision to go completely legal across the entire country. While cannabis is 100% legal for recreational use in Canada, each of the ten provinces has decided how cannabis products will be sold and what types of cannabis products will be sold.
The History of Cannabis
For thousands of years, different civilizations around the world have used cannabis for medicinal reasons, ceremonies and recreationally. Even the ancient Egyptians were known to use cannabis recreationally and even mix it with honey.
This continued for thousands of years with different civilizations across the world using cannabis in their own way. It wasn’t until the early 1900s that people’s opinion of cannabis begun to change. With the growing rise of opioid use and addiction, many governments begun to class cannabis as a narcotic. This led to cannabis being declared illegal in many Western cultures.
It has taken almost 100 years, but the perception of cannabis has finally swung back full-circle, with many governments softening their stance on marijuana. While some countries have completely legalized the recreational use of cannabis, others have started to explore medicinal marijuana for a variety of different health conditions.
There are a variety of different cannabinoids in cannabis, but the two main cannabinoids are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and cannabidiol (CBD). Unlike THC, CBD won’t get you high and has no psychoactive properties. Many people utilize CBD for its wide-range of health benefits. Surprisingly, CBD can reduce the anxiety feelings many people get when they use strains of cannabis with high THC percentages.
Changed Cannabis Perceptions in Canada
While many older people may have their perceptions of cannabis firmly set, for younger generations cannabis research is changing their ideas and perceptions. Cannabis being deemed as a narcotic for the last century had slowed any research to a trickle, but all that has changed over the last decade.
For the last decade cannabis research, particularly on THC and CBD health benefits has been increasing at an astonishing pace. All around the world scientists are scrambling to unlock the health benefits which cannabis offers.
Only a few years ago if you thought of smoking cannabis in public, you would have had to hide or be extremely discreet. Now people are openly smoking cannabis with friends before heading out for dinner or to the movies.
The stereotype of the traditional ‘pothead’ or ‘stoner’ is long gone with many of the fears associated with the legalization of cannabis proving to be just that, fears. Civilization in Canada hasn’t fallen apart, crime gangs aren’t running wild, and stoners aren’t littering the streets.
In fact, cannabis proved so popular that when it was legalized in October 2018, almost all of the Canadian weed stores operated by the government ran out of cannabis within the first two days!
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