New Years Day will mean recreational pot will be legal in America's biggest state. That's a game changer.

However, it's hardly the only legalization event happening next year. In fact, it might not even be the biggest event.

Canada



Health Canada has nearly doubled the number of licensed cannabis producers in the country over the past six months and new numbers show hundreds more applicants are in the final stages of approval as the government rushes toward national marijuana legalization by next July.

The dramatic surge in approved and aspiring producers comes in the wake of the agency's concerted efforts to loosen its bureaucratic approval process and head off what many experts fear will be a looming supply crunch for the burgeoning legal cannabis market.

...Provincial governments, police forces and marijuana companies have also been scrambling to prepare for legalized recreational sales, which the Prime Minister's Office confirmed Wednesday are expected by July — but not necessarily the Canada Day deadline that many had assumed.

A wave of pending applications has the potential to nearly triple the number of producers operating in a legal recreational market

Mexico



Mexico is set to legalize the sale of marijuana-based products early next year, despite the country’s struggles with the illicit drug trade.

On Wednesday, Mexico’s health regulator announced plans to permit the sale of cannabis-based foods, drinks, medicines and cosmetics in the market.

In June, Mexico legalized the use of marijuana for medical and scientific needs but has maintained a ban on recreational use and cultivation, reported The Washington Post. The move was backed with by an overwhelming majority of 371 members of the Lower House of Congress, with only 19 politicians voting against the bill. In addition, the policy also required the Ministry of Health to develop a research program to study the drug’s impact before any broader policies are considered.

On both sides of the border marijuana is moving toward legalization.

2018 should bring legalization into several more states.

