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KAMLOOPS — As cannabis legalization spread across the nation Wednesday, hundreds of customers waited up to an hour to visit the first B.C. Cannabis Store and become part of provincial history.

By the time the doors opened at 10 a.m., the queue was long to be one of the first consumers of legal, recreational cannabis in B.C., after Canada’s Cannabis Act came into force hours earlier.

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A lone protester shouted his opposition to what he perceived as the government’s monopolization of the legal market. For everyone else, the opening was cause for celebration.

Becky Prete, an employee of cannabis firm Tweed who lives in Kelowna, was first in line, setting up a chair outside the store just after 6 a.m.

“I thought there was going to be at least a couple blocks of people,” she said.

Prete said being able to buy recreational cannabis legally is a relief.

“There’s no fear, there’s nothing behind it,” she said. “You can just go in, pick what you want, leave the store, go drive home with it and not have to feel a hint of paranoia.”