Although cannabis legalization is moving forward at the state level in the United States, the possibility of total federal legalization of the plant in the next few years feels like a pipe dream.
Congress is preoccupied with other matters despite the numerous promises and constant false hope being fed to Americans by various lawmakers.
As a Canadian, it strikes me as odd that I could walk into a cannabis dispensary in one state and buy enough weed to go catatonic for a week. But if I dare take any of that cannabis across the border into a neighboring state without legal marijuana, I can get put in a jail cell if a cop smells it in my car. The idea of that just stresses me out to avoid ever going on road trips if I decide to cross the border for a vacation. Even though the cannabis plant is legal in all Canadian provinces, it’s obviously not consistent in quality from city to city. Although Vancouver was formerly the marijuana capital of Canada during the days of the black market, my home city of Toronto is not far behind in all of the amazing cannabis dispensaries that have opened in the last decade. We have several hundred cannabis stores in just Toronto alone. My brother works at a cannabis store in East York on Cosburn Ave while my cousin works at a different marijuana dispensary in Scarborough on Ellesmere Rd. Although I can’t get discounts for being a family member of employees, I’m usually given a heads up when there are fresh batches of quality cannabis strains like Blue Dream and Skywalker OG.