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How to Find a Weed Shop in Canada: Traveler’s Guide
Now that Canada is the new pot paradise, any weed enthusiast may be thinking of having a vacay there. There are many beautiful sights and sounds in the Great White North so you will be in for a good ride. While the Nomadic Matt may help you find the best destinations and eateries, you will need extra help with finding the best weed shop in Canada. Here is something small to make sure that you make the most of your trip.
1.0 A few Rules First
Before getting to the juicier bits, there are a few things that you need to know about legal weed in Canada. You will not just walk into WalMart and order yourself some Acapulco gold and proceed to smoke it in the hotel lobby. This can earn you a hefty penalty or even a jail sentence. To avoid getting on the wrong side of the law while on Vacay, acquaint yourself with laws governing marijuana use in Canada.
1.1 What’s the legal smoking age?
“Justin Trudeau’s” cannabis act leans towards protecting the youth from accessing recreational weed. With this, there is a minimum age set for recreational weed use in every province. Minors who have not attained the minimum legal age are barred from accessing weed. Cannabis retailers found guilty of selling weed to minors face the risk of hefty fines or losing their trade licenses.
Across 8 provinces in Canada, the legal age for marijuana use is set at 19 years. The legal age in Alberta is 18 while in Quebec the legal age is 21. If you are above these respective ages hooray! You will be able to enjoy a pot-infused vacay.
1.2 How much cannabis Can You Buy in Canada?
There’s a ceiling to how much cannabis you can legally possess, carry, and share in Canada. This is 30 grams of cannabis by dry weight or its equivalent in non-dried forms. If you were to shop online at the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) 30 grams of Afghan Kush dried flower would cost you $249. OCS makes deliveries within Ontario. If you happen to be in the locality, this is a suggestion to contemplate.
1.3 Can You Use Cannabis Anywhere in Canada?
Your options for smoking weed are limited. Each province sets its own rules on where cannabis use is permitted. It’s hard to go over every province’s restrictions, but since they have a commonality under the cannabis Act the general principles are the same.
Marijuana use is forbidden in every place where tobacco use is forbidden. The rules on marijuana use are even stricter as one cannot use marijuana in a vehicle.
Other places where marijuana is restricted include:
- Schools
- Confined public spaces such as waiting lobbies, offices, bus parks, university dorms, and elderly people’s homes.
- Hospital facilities
- Vehicles
2.0 How To Find A Good Weed Shop In Canada
If you are of legal age and know where you are allowed to smoke pot, the next thing you should do is learn how to find a weed shop. There are a couple of characteristics that make for a good weed shop; at the end of the day, you want to find high-quality weed that delivers the anticipated effects. Once you know what to look for it will be much easier to find a weed shop that meets your standards. Here are a few suggestions to train your mind:
1. Who Is The Budtender?
This is probably the most important element when finding the ideal weed shop. The budtender gives you a glimpse of the ultimate cannabis experience.
The budtender should be familiar with all the weed strains; how they smell, taste and the effects they produce. If the budtender is not able to answer the basic questions about the cannabis products then the weed shop becomes questionable.
Budtenders may not know everything about cannabis but they should be able to help you select the best strain of weed to suit your budget and preferences.
2. Find Online Reviews
Reviews will always give you the true picture of what a weed shop represents. Go through as many reviews as possible to ensure that you get an objective view.
A weed shop website may look extremely fascinating but the service and quality of products may be inferior. Go the extra mile and check what previous customers are saying about this weed shop.
A few negative reviews should not dissuade you from trying out a weed shop. Once in a while, a few things can go wrong. The majority of reviews should give you a realistic picture of the weed shop.
3. Consider The Kind Of Weed Products On Offer
If you are traveling in a group its best to find a weed shop that offers different types of weed products. This includes smokable forms of cannabis and edibles as well. Thankfully, cannabis 2.0 happened and cannabis-infused edibles, vapes, and beverages are now on deck.
4. Have A Budget
Quality weed comes at a cost so it will be advisable to come up with a budget. This entails deciding in advance how regularly you may want to indulge and then planning for it.
Some weed shops will charge more than others, if you have a budget it will be easier to find a weed shop that matches your pocket. You also want to factor in distances to and from the weed shop because this may also inflate the cost of obtaining the weed. Ultimately it is imperative to do some quick research and comparisons before settling on a particular weed shop.
In Summary
Finding the best weed shop is more than just googling “weed shop near me.” As much as this may answer your question you may feel short-changed in the long run when the budtender or pricing fails to meet your expectations.
3.0 Weed Shops In Canada
Here are a few suggestions for you.
3.1 Weed Shop Toronto
If you happen to be in Toronto on Vacay there are a couple of exciting things that you can do. Apart from visiting Niagara falls and Casa Loma you can also try out a few weed shops. The honey pot, Canna Cabana, Tokyo smoke, and Havoc smoke are good suggestions of Online Dispensary Canada.
Tokyo Smoke
Tokyo Smoke was founded in 2015 and is popular to date among the locals. It is located in the West Queen West neighborhood and plans to expand to the US shortly. If your love for coffee goes hand in hand with your love for cannabis then Tokyo Smoke is a joint that you should try out.
3.2 Weed Shop Quebec
If you happen to be visiting Quebec the Place Royale and Parc Jean Drapeau would be exciting places to visit. When it comes to buying legal weed in Quebec that’s where things get a bit tricky. Quebec is not as liberal as other provinces. First, you will have to be 21 years or older. Secondly, you can only buy cannabis from the Société québécoise du cannabis (SQC) which sells pot via stores and a website.
The SQDC physical store is rather discrete; there are no advertisements or posters within or outside the stores. However, the services given at the stores are decent and you are assured of the quality of weed that you will find there.
So far the SQDC stores have been posting immense profits meaning that residents are not shying away from visiting these stores.
3.3 Weed Shop Alberta
In Alberta, you will not run out of weed shops to try. Here is one that you can consider.
This is a family-owned local Cannabis shop that is located in the community of Bowness in Calgary. The experience at this weed shop is homely with the feel of a “mom and pop” shop.
3.4 Weed Shop Halifax
In Halifax, you can start your tour at any of the major tourist sites; the Halifax citadel national historic site is an awesome suggestion. By the end of the day, you may want to try out a local weed shop. There are not many options to choose from since all weed stores are government-run.
You can buy legal weed from the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation’s flagship store on Clyde Street.
3.5 Weed Shop Montreal
A visit to Montreal is one to look forward to because of the cosmopolitan nature of its people. You will enjoy sampling restaurants as well as historic sites such as Notre Dame Basilica.
When it comes to buying weed you will be restricted to the Société québécoise du cannabis (SQC) weed shops. You can try the one at 6872 rue Saint Hubert which sells recreational weed.
3.6 Weed Shop Vancouver
If you happen to be in Vancouver you can try out Evergreen Cannabis. This was the first weed shop to open its doors to the public in January this year.
4.0 Help Me Find A Weed Shop Near Me
Several resources can help you find the closest weed shop near you in Canada. As long as you do a background check on the shops you can rely on these resources.
- Yelp is one of them and you can access it through this link.
- Leafly is a reliable cannabis resource that has an established reputation in the industry. They recently introduced a store locator feature that can help you find a weed shop near you in Canada. You can access Leafly through this link.
- Weedmaps is another established brand in the cannabis industry that can be accessed through this link.
5.0 What About Weed Shop 2?
Weed Shop 2 is a recreational Marijuana dispensary simulator game that is available on Steam Powered. It is an exciting game for weed enthusiasts where players compete to transform a run-down medical marijuana dispensary into the hottest Weed Shop in the country. It can be an additional feature for your travel itinerary. This will set you in the mood to explore the trendiest weed shop in Canada.
6.0 How To Use The OCS Store Locater
Save the best for last!
If you happen to be in Ontario one reliable tool to help you find the closest weed shop to you is the OCS store locator. This resource will only give you legal weed shops in the area.
For example, if you want to find weed shops in Toronto this is what comes up:
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Cannabis in Canada. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_Canada
2. CNN Business 2019: Canada’s Cannabis 2.0: Edibles, beverages, vapes on deck. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/17/business/canada-cannabis-legalization-2-0/index.html
3. Wikipedia: Tokyo Smoke. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Smoke
4. Yelp. Retrieved from https://www.yelp.ca/search?find_desc=best+place+to+buy+marijuana&find_loc=Toronto%2C+ON
5. Leafly. Retrieved from https://www.leafly.ca/finder
6. Weed Maps. Retrieved from https://weedmaps.com/dispensaries/in/canada
7. OCS. retrieved from https://ocs.ca/
8. NY Times 2019. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/22/travel/travel-canada-buy-weed-explained.html
