“We want to make sure that, before we say yes to edibles, we have the appropriate regulatory process in place,” Blair said. To that end, the government said it will have a firm answer on how to handle edibles a year after legalization comes into force.

That’s a departure from how the American states have done it. In places like Nevada and Colorado, edibles are quickly replacing dried marijuana as the drug of choice for consumers.

American pot companies, some of which have headquarters or partners in Canada, are investing heavily into developing a host of new products. Those products won’t be hitting the shelves up north until at least 2019.

One marijuana executive who spoke with BuzzFeed News but who asked not to be named found Ottawa’s reticence perplexing: If you’re concerned with the health impacts of weed, why limit consumers to a drug that needs to be smoked, they said.

Finally, the date

One of the biggest open questions is still when, exactly, marijuana will be legal.

The government had floated the date of July 1, 2018, but were quick to back away from that, given that it would land on Canada Day. (“I don’t know where it came from, that date,” Trudeau told TVA earlier in December.)

Blair, too, confirmed that July 1 is out of the question, but said the legal market will come online sometime around then.

There’s still plenty that could derail even that moving target.

The Senate, which has only just recently begun studying the legalization legislation, has signaled that it intends to take its time with the bill. If they amend the legislation, it will need to go back to the House of Commons. If that happens, it will be a scramble to get the bill into law before the summer.

That problem is mirrored on the provincial level, where several governments are still grappling with how, exactly, they intend to allow the sale of the drug.

On top of all that, Ottawa still hasn’t unveiled its final regulations on marketing rules or taxes.

Nevertheless, Blair and his government are confident they’ll get everything figured out by the summer.