This article was published 21/6/2018 (825 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After Canada legalizes recreational cannabis on October 17, 2018, consumers will have two legal routes to access marijuana: an existing medical cannabis regime, plus a new recreational cannabis regime.

Within those parallel systems, people will be able to buy cannabis or grow their own.

In both cases, commercial cannabis production will be subject to federal regulation via Health Canada — but recreational cannabis will be sold and distributed differently across the provinces and territories, while the sale and distribution of medical cannabis will remain under federal jurisdiction.

Trying to visualize how it all fits together? Check out our legal cannabis flowchart: