Residents in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada’s easternmost province, were among the first people to purchase cannabis in the country on Wednesday after its recreational sales became legal.
A separate time zone in Newfoundland and Labrador, where residents will have 22 outlets to buy pot from, meant that customers were able to make purchases an hour before the rest of the country.
Enthusiasts lined up outside local stores to be the first people in Canada to buy legal recreational cannabis.
Canada is the first industrialized nation to legalize recreational cannabis but a legal battle will be hard to find in its biggest cities as some, including Toronto and Vancouver, will have no stores open.
The legalization of the recreational use of cannabis fulfills a campaign promise by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, who argued the move would keep pot out of the hands of underage users and reduce related crime.