*By Jacqueline Corba and Carlo Versano*
Celebrations broke out across Canada in the early hours of Wednesday morning when the country became the second ー and largest ー in the world to legalize recreational marijuana at the federal level.
The first sales took place in the easternmost parts of the nation ー St. John's, New Foundland ー shortly after midnight, with customers lining up outside retailers to get their hands on legal bud.
It marks a sea change in global policy, one many other countries will look to as they review shifting attitudes toward the drug.
"We are ready from a store perspective as well as from an e-commerce perspective," said Jean-François Bergeron, vice-president at SAQ, Québec's liquor corporation, which is overseeing the government's brand new cannabis retailer known as SQDC.
"We have inventory, we have the stock on site, we have all the points-of-sale ready to kick in."
Access to marijuana is regulated province to province in Canada. Some, like New Foundland, will open brick-and-mortar locations right away, while others, such as Ottawa, will start with online-only retail.
"People will be allowed to purchase it through the mail first, then we will have dispensaries or shops people will be able to go to next April," Riley Brockington, City Councillor for Ottawa's River Ward, told Cheddar.
But he knows legalization is as much about regulation and taxation as it is about acceptance of marijuana.
"I don't condone drug use," said Brockington. "I live in reality ー there is a fairly moderate demand for cannabis, and what the federal government is trying to do is basically undercut or undermine the black market by making it legal."
Meanwhile, Québec will open 12 physical shops through the SQDC. Cheddar visited one of those stores in Montreal one day before legalization and found it to be organized and easy-to-understand from a customer perspective.
"You have to realize that our mission is not to make a profit," said SAQ's Bergeron, the Québec retail representative.
"Our mission is a social mission."
Bergeron said any revenue from sales will go back into funding public education, addiction programs, and safety. Québec also expects to capture 30 percent of the black market sales in the first year and will offer cannabis at the most competitive prices compared to other provinces, according to Bergeron.
A.I.-based entertainment company, Deedub, recently raised
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Energy Vault, the company developing sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions, is now trading on the New York Stock Exchange following the completion of its business combination with Novus Capital Corporation II. Energy Vault develops sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions designed to advance the transition to a carbon free, resilient power grid. Robert Piconi, co-founder and CEO of Energy Vault, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to disucss.
A new mobile app has launched just in time for Valentine's Day. Our.Love bills itself as an A.I.-powered, gamified, relationship wellness app for couples. The app is set in what the company calls the Coupleverse, a virtual world where each couple can build a virtual relationship home as they also build their real-world relationship. Founder and CEO Tal Zlotnitsky joined Cheddar to discuss how the app works. "The concept behind Our.Love is to give people the opportunity to understand where they stand in their relationship through very simple metrics that we provide within the app that will help them in real-time, see where they stand, see where their partner is, and be able to get closer together," he said.
Alyson Wilson, VP of Brand Innovation at Alo Yoga, joins Cheddar News to discuss the yoga apparel company entering the metaverse and teaming up with Spring Studios for New York Fashion Week.
The 21st Annual Food Network and Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF), is returning to Miami on February 24 with proceeds to benefit the future leaders of the hospitality industry. Lee Schrager, the founder and director of the festival, and Food Network star Jeff Mauro joined Cheddar News to discuss what ticket holders can expect, how the festival benefits students, and how Mauro will be paying tribute to fellow food celebrity, Guy Fieri, by hosting a charity auction dinner. "I mean there's nobody bigger, nobody more magnetic right now in the food space than Guy," Maura said. "I mean the guy had a Super Bowl commercial on last night. That's a dream of mine, so I'm one step closer there just by doing a tight 20 minutes at his tribute dinner."
