Ten facts about shopping at the cannabis store, and staying on right side of law

The Ontario Cannabis Store website is now live and, come Oct. 17, you can type in OCS.ca and purchase recreational cannabis and its non-intoxicating cousin, CBD oil.

The independently owned and operated bricks-and-mortar retail pot shops will follow beginning next April in municipalities that allow them.

After the Oct. 22 municipal election, one of the first orders of business for Newmarket’s new Town Council will be to decide whether or not it wants to opt out of provincial legislation allowing such retailers around town. Council has until Jan. 22, 2019 to make a decision.

In the meantime, as long as you have valid, government-issued photo ID that proves you’re 19 or older when the Canada Post delivery agent turns up at your door, you can shop for weed online. When making your purchase online, however, you self-declare to be of legal age by entering your birth date.

Here are 10 fast facts you need to know in advance of next Wednesday’s launch of the online Ontario Cannabis Store:

• If York police have reasonable grounds to believe you’re driving impaired either from alcohol or cannabis, you could face criminal charges. Also, it's still illegal to sell legally purchased marijuana. 
• Don’t bring your legally purchased weed across the U.S. border. Even though it is legalized in some states, such as California and Colorado, it remains an illegal drug in that country.
• You are legally allowed to buy up to 30 grams of weed at a time during an online purchase at OCS.ca. That amounts to enough product to fill a small, plastic sandwich bag.
• You are allowed to grow up to four of your own pot plants per household, not per person. You can purchase weed seeds from the Ontario Cannabis Store as well.
• The Ontario Cannabis Store is the only legal seller of recreational cannabis in the province. All weed buys made elsewhere or online are illegal.
• Smoking weed is legal in your home and in some public areas where smoking cigarettes is permitted, such as sidewalks and other designated areas. Using the product is not allowed at any workplace.
• All legally purchased cannabis in Ontario comes from pot growers licensed by Health Canada.
• It’s not yet known what legal weed will cost next week, but estimates put it at about $8 per gram.
• Medical weed is regulated differently than the recreational variety. The medical products are regulated entirely by the federal government. Ottawa also regulates the production, or growing, of recreational weed, but its sale is regulated by the province.
• Recent statistics that informed Ontario’s rules around recreational cannabis use and sale include 86 per cent of people said they support a minimum age of 19, 74 per cent believe there should be restrictions where weed can be consumed, 61 per cent agreed that drug-impaired driving penalities should be stricter and, 69 per cent believe that keeping cannabis out of the hands of youth is important.

For more information, visit the Ontario Cannabis Store here