Canada has become the second country after Uruguay to legalise possession and use of recreational cannabis.
The nationwide market for cannabis opened on Wednesday at midnight amid lingering questions about the impact on health, the law and public safety.
Information has been sent to 15m households about the new laws and public awareness campaigns.
But there remain concerns, including about the readiness for police forces to tackle drug impaired driving.
Uruguay was the first country to legalise recreational marijuana, although Portugal and the Netherlands have decriminalised the drug.
Canadian provinces and municipalities have been preparing for months for the end of cannabis prohibition.
Provinces and territories are responsible for setting out many of the details for where cannabis can be bought and consumed within their jurisdictions.
This has created a patchwork of legislation across the country as jurisdictions choose more or less restrictive frameworks for selling and using cannabis.
Shops in the province of Newfoundland, the most easterly time zone in Canada, opened as midnight struck for the first legal sales of cannabis in the country.
There remain unanswered questions on some key issues around how legal cannabis will work in Canada.
A number of analysts are predicting a shortage of recreational marijuana in the first year of legalisation as production and licensing continues to ramp up to meet demand.
And the marketplace itself is still in its infancy.
Ontario, Canada ‘s most populous province, will only begin opening retail stores next spring, though residents will be able to order cannabis online.
British Columbia, one of the provinces with the highest rates of cannabis use, will only have one legal store open on Wednesday.
Until retail locations are more widely available, some unlicensed cannabis retailers, which have flourished in the years since the law was first proposed, may stay open.
It is unclear if police will crack down on them immediately, or if they will turn a blind eye.
Jamal Khashoggi: Trump gives Saudi benefit of doubt in Khashoggi case
US President Donald Trump has cautioned against rushing to blame Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
He told the AP news agency that Riyadh was being treated as “guilty until proven innocent”.
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Mr. Trump also said that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman had denied knowing what happened to Mr. Khashoggi.
Unnamed Turkish officials say a search of the Istanbul Saudi consulate gave more evidence that he was killed there.
The journalist, a critic of the Saudi leadership, was last seen alive entering the consulate on 2 October. Saudi Arabia has denied killing him and initially said he left the building unharmed.
However, the New York Times reports that four of the 15 people named by the Turkish authorities as suspects in Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance have links to the crown prince, while another is a senior figure in the country’s Interior Ministry.
According to the newspaper, one of the men has been photographed accompanying the royal on recent foreign visits.
The case has put Saudi Arabia under pressure from close allies.
On Tuesday, G7 foreign ministers called for Saudi Arabia to conduct a “transparent” probe into the issue.
Meanwhile, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde has become the latest high-profile figure to withdraw from a major Saudi investment conference next week following Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due to visit Turkey on Wednesday, following a meeting with Saudi King Salman and the crown prince on Tuesday.
The Saudi heir apparent wields considerable power in the kingdom and is being held responsible by many outside for whatever happened to Mr. Khashoggi.
Mr. Trump tweeted that Prince Mohammed had spoken to him on the phone and he “totally denied any knowledge of what took place in their Turkish Consulate”.
The president said he “told me that he has already started, and will rapidly expand, a full and complete investigation into this matter. Answers will be forthcoming shortly”.
