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Canada legalized marijuana, but still less than half of sales are from legal sources

Canada legalized production, sale and consumption of recreational cannabis last fall, the second nation in the world to do so after Uruguay.

A Canadian flag with a weed leaf on it is waved at a celebration of National Marijuana Day on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada.
A Canadian flag with a weed leaf on it is waved at a celebration of National Marijuana Day on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada.
Chris Roussakis/AFP/Getty Images

A year after Canada became the largest nation to approve legalized recreational marijuana use, and eight months into legal consumption, cannabis is a $2 billion-plus industry.

But despite the intent to stamp out marijuana’s traditional black market, illegal weed is cheaper and more widely available than its regulated counterpart. More than half of sales in Canada remain illicit.

Meanwhile, legal Canadian cannabis companies are listing themselves on American stock exchanges, while federally-banned U.S. businesses have started listing themselves in Canada.

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