Canada made recreational cannabis federally legal on Oct. 17th. The product is available only online through the provincially-run store in Ontario, while there’s a mix of online and storefront sales in other provinces. Patients in Canada with prescriptions for cannabis have been able to purchase it online since 2013.

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While many U.S. states have legalized cannabis for recreational and medical purposes, it remains federally illegal.



The October 2018 cannabis seizures amounted to 85 pounds, up significantly from the 2.5 pounds seized in October 2017. The Buffalo office made a total of 52 seizures of narcotics in Oct. 2017, including cannabis. In October 2018, that number jumped to 218 seizures, the majority of which were cannabis.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The border agency was not yet able to provide total cannabis seizures for those time periods for the whole of the Canada-U.S. border.

In the months leading up to legalization in Canada, officials with the Buffalo field office began to note an uptick in marijuana seizures at traffic crossings into the U.S., and through the mail, specifically through commercial carriers such as Fedex.

“We started to see an increase in not only larger amount but also personal use amounts, 10 to 30 grams,” Aaron Bowker, a spokesperson with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Buffalo field office, told VICE News over the phone. “I think what contributed to that was ease of access … people's ability to get their hands on it got easier.”