When legalization begins Wednesday, Oct. 17, the only legal purchasable marijuana will be fresh or dried bud, oil, plants and seeds. The federal government is promising to spend the next year developing regulations around edibles (predicted by Deloitte to eat up 60% of the market when legal) and concentrates.

Shifting statements from U.S. border officials have prompted some Canadian cannabis industry players to think twice about travelling south of the border, just weeks before a significant pot industry conference in Las Vegas.

Shopify Inc.’s (SHOP.N, SHOP.TO 12.13%) market lead in Canadian online cannabis sales should give it a leg up as other countries begin to legalize the drug for medical and recreational use, Chief Executive Officer Tobias Lutke said.

Marijuana has been legal in Canada for over a week and already there have been a few problems. Police have already fined Canadians for driving high, and with the more frequent roadblocks and highway surveillence we can expect more charges to be handed out in the following weeks.

On top of that, most legal stores are already running out of product. Needless to say, it's a rocky start. Things are only going to get worse though, as the federal government is imposing new cannabis laws that are much more strict than before. The new laws will take effect on December 18 and for the most part concern impaired driving.

It seems like the more volatile cannabis stocks become, the more people show interest in them. With the entire market correcting right now, everyone’s trying to call the bottom instead of using Dollar-Cost-Averaging (DCA) to accumulate their positions over time. DCA is all about reducing a risk called “market timing”. Then there’s the concept of diversification, which also minimizes risk by not putting all your eggs in one basket. Sure, you could buy the HMMJ ETF, but keep an eye on what stocks they’re adding over time and at what weights. Always understand what you’re investing in.

Horizons offers different Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) to consumers sourced from a variety of industries. Over the past year Horizon’s notable ETFs have been sourced from the cannabis industry with the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index (TSX:HMMJ) and the lesser known Horizons Emerging Growers Index (TSX:HMJR).

Cannabis NB sold nearly $945,000 worth of marijuana within the first 48 hours of legalization last week, president and CEO Brian Harriman announced Wednesday.

In-store sales on Oct. 17 and 18 accounted for the bulk of that, at $872,758, compared to online purchases of $71,083, including taxes and delivery fees.

The biggest buyers were in the Fredericton and Oromocto area, where $172,975 worth of various cannabis products were purchased. Saint John and Rothesay were close behind at $148,197, followed by Moncton and Dieppe at $145,547. No sales data for the rest of the week has been released. By comparison, NB Liquor's average two-day sales of alcohol during that time of year is about $2.5 million.

There were queues all over Canada on Wednesday as people stood in line to be the first to buy non-medical cannabis legally. This represented a big step forward for Canada as it became the second country in the world, after Uruguay, to legalize the possession and use of cannabis. Whilst medicinal marijuana has been legal since 2001, the recent legalization is the outcome of a promise the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made in his 2015 campaign for office.

Cannabis short sellers made over $450 million on the first two days of the week, cutting nearly a third off their year-to-date losses, according to data from financial analytics firm S3 Partners.

Pot stocks fell for six consecutive trading days beginning Oct. 16, the day before Canada legalized recreational marijuana. The BI Canada Cannabis Competitive Peers index tumbled 21 per cent from then through Tuesday’s close, and the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF, the largest pot exchange-traded fund, lost 20 per cent to its lowest level in two months.

Marijuana has now been legal in Canada for an entire week, with things mostly going as expected. Users and curious onlookers have packed into retail stores, while thousands of others have crashed websites ordering their cannabis online. Some folks got their pot without issue, while many others are still waiting for their supply from overwhelmed government agencies.