As we mentioned earlier, Canada became the second country to legalize recreational marijuana on a national level. So, who was the first? Uruguay became the first nation with recreational cannabis almost five years ago in 2013. If there wasn’t much of an international impact in response to Uruguay’s decision, how will Canada make a change? The differences lie in United Nations participation and economic power.

The UN chose to ignore when Uruguay and select U.S. states legalized recreational cannabis use, but they’ll have a harder time doing so with Canada. Canada actively participates in United Nations activity, making it more likely for the organization to hear them. With such a significant player accepting recreational marijuana, the United Nations has a high chance of a future drug policy debate.

Also, Canada has more economic influence than Uruguay or a small number of U.S. states. With newly approved legalization, many nations now have interest in seeing how it will pan out. One such country could be the United States, considering the power of Canada’s marijuana stocks overwhelms the United States’.