Whoa, Canada!

From zero the hero in only seventeen years!

In 2001, Canada legalized cannabis for medicinal use. Yesterday, the country removed the biggest barrier to full legalization, and is on track to make 2018 the first year an economic (and now social) powerhouse nation, the first G-7 country to fully legalize medicinal and recreational use.

Canada's Senate approved legalization by a vote of 56-30. The vote "also included amendments the House of Commons will need to decide on before the law can be passed.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is virtually guaranteed to sign it into law, fulfilling his Liberal party's pledge to legalise recreational use of marijuana during their successful 2015 general election campaign.

Canadian legalization is freighted with multiple layers of moral and social complexity as it tries to unwind the ill-effects of a near century of Prohibition.

To many, it's not that complicated: "Legalizing recreational marijuana in Canada could spark an industry worth more than $4 billion", a number that could very well be conservative.