Global Ganja Report

Canada is about to make history, with passage of its cannabis legalization bill imminent. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau  is the man of the hour, shepherding the first Western industrialized country along a course that was nearly unthinkable a generation ago. But it was activist efforts that really brought Canada to this point—and advocates are still fighting to keep a place for small growers and vendors in the new system.

Amid the controversies over how Canada's federal government and provinces will divide regulatory oversight as well as the tax revenues from legal cannabis, a largely overlooked question is the role of the country's First Nations. With passage of the Canadian Cannabis Act now imminent, indigenous groups agree they want more involvement in the process. But First Nations are divided between those hoping for a windfall from legal sales and those actually calling for passage of the Cannabis Act to be put off because native peoples were not properly consulted.

With Canada on a final one-month countdown to legal cannabis, the country's provinces are adopting widely varying regulation regimes, creating a "crazy quilt" policy patchwork. While Ontario and Quebec are opting for provincial government monopolies on retail sales, Alberta and Saskatchewan have embraced a private model, sparking a flood of canna-capital into these western provinces.

Many things are falling into place as Canada advances toward legal cannabis, expected to take effect this summer. Provinces are to come up with their own policies on regulation, and these are now congealing. The government of Nova Scotia has agreed on a plan to market retail cannabis at liquor stores through the provincial public company that now maintains a monopoly on alcohol sales, the Canadian Broadcasting Company reports. At the other end of the continent, British Columbia is also said to be considering such a plan.

Pretty ironic timing. Just as Canada is moving toward legal cannabis, dispensaries are coming under more legal pressure and being forced to shut down—most recently in Toronto. On Dec. 7, the city's Cannabis Culture outlet—which had been targeted in a police raid back in March—finally shut its doors, and seemingly this time for good. The Ottawa Citizen reports that police arrived at the popular Cannabis Culture dispensary on Bank Street with a bailiff, who changed the locks and posted a notice on the door saying the lease was being terminated.