As we get closer to recreational legalization in Canada on October 17, cannabis companies are increasingly interested in an up-listing to a major U.S. stock exchange. A listing to a U.S. exchange would generally allow for more liquidity and could slightly boost the share price, as the stock is now accessible to a broader range of investors. Tilray Inc.

Licensed producers of marijuana in Canada have stored away a record amount of cannabis in the months leading up to legalization, yet analysts still anticipate a significant shortage after initial inventories are depleted – particularly of highly sought-after strains.

According to new data from Health Canada, the country’s 100-plus licensed producers accumulated 96,700 kilograms of cannabis oil and dried leaf through June. The Bank of Montreal estimates total demand for adult-use and medical cannabis in the first year of legalization will be 337,000 kilograms.

It is the last quarterly update that Health Canada will provide before legal marijuana sales kick off Oct. 17.

As the date draws near, everyone is anticipating the legalization of marijuana in Canada. Some individuals are weary of this new "freedom", while others are weary of all the restrictions- across the border, in Quebec and in general how this will affect Canada as a whole. 

Cannabis is expected to be a multi-billion industry in Canada once recreational legalization occurs later this month. As with any sector, but especially one that is highly regulated such as marijuana, good governance will be the key to any company’s success and is a factor that should be taken seriously by all cannabis investors.  As Licensed Producers are set to compete with one another based on product and price, companies providing cannabis industry infrastructure, as well as tools to improve governance, could become the big winners in this space. Governments will be reliant on technology to effectively regulate this sector, one that has serious health implications for its citizens.

The legalization of recreational marijuana is only days away in Canada. This grand experiment will draw the attention of the world. While legalization may seem like a small innovation amongst the monumental scale of world history, its effects will, in fact, be sweeping. Marijuana legalization will be transformative. With this step, Canada is poised to change the world and its standing within it.

Here's how:

Canada will become the true leader of the free world

With legalization, Canada will have a more legitimate claim to the title of "leader of the free world." Most simply, legalization will give citizens and residents of Canada more freedom than their American counterparts.

Travellers flying within Canada will be allowed to pack 30 grams of cannabis once legalization begins Oct. 17, transportation minister Marc Garneau announced Tuesday.

According to Jett Hansell, the regional manager at Weeds, a chain of cannabis dispensaries, that's not a small stash.

"I expected it to be a lot more strict, so 30 grams is awesome," said Hansell on Wednesday.

She said a lot of people roll joints using roughly half a gram of cannabis, so it would take about 60 joints to hit the limit.

To demonstrate what that looks like, Hansell pulled out about 60 to 75 pre-rolled joints and loaded it into her hands. She could barely hold it all, and required assistance to pile the joints, which kept falling between her fingers.

Having previously partnered with the University of Calgary, Sundial Growers has now entered a three-year memorandum of understanding with the University of Saskatchewan.

“Sundial, from day one, has been committed to becoming a leader in proving out medical cannabis as an option for doctors to prescribe, so we have moved forward in a partnership with both (universities) to pursue that,” said Geoff Thompson, president of Sundial.

Half of Canadians say they don’t think their home province is ready for the legalization of recreational cannabis on Oct. 17, according to a poll by the Angus Reid Institute.

The poll also reveals that 57 per cent of Canadians say that, upon legalization, they think the law will fail to prevent minors from accessing cannabis, along with 60 per cent saying they lack confidence in police to punish drivers operating vehicles while high.

The survey involved 1,500 Canadian adult respondents who answered an online survey from Sept. 4 to 7. Lawyers who spoke with Legal Feeds say they aren’t surprised by the results.

Marijuana will be legal in Canada in just two weeks, and while there's been a lot of talk about cannabis and kids, there hasn't been much discussion about seniors.

Advocates for the elderly gathered in Vancouver Tuesday at a conference where the topic of seniors' consumption drew a crowd. Should they have the freedom to access and consume recreational weed while in retirement homes?

"We do have that population of baby boomers who are going to be moving into seniors' care very soon, so their expectations of what is provided in a seniors' home or assisted living is very different from that of their grandparents," BC Care Providers Association's Daniel Fontaine said.

Bill Blair says the federal government won't interfere if Quebec decides to raise the age limit for legal consumption of marijuana to 21 years.

The minister responsible for border security and organized crime reduction says Ottawa will leave it to the provinces to decide their own age limits.

Quebec's newly-elected governing party, the Coalition Avenir Quebec, campaigned on a pledge to increase the legal age for consuming cannabis from the current 18 years. While the C-A-Q says it intends to follow through on that promise, questions have been raised about whether that can be done before pot becomes legal across the country on October 17th.

Blair says he's not concerned about age limits imposed by provinces.