After Newness Fades, Canada Settles Down to Legal Marijuana The national upheaval predicted when Canada became the first major industrialized nation to legalize recreational marijuana has not come to pass. Jan. 29, 2021 As part of The Times’s Promises Made series, I’ve looked back at Canada’s experience with becoming the first major industrialized nation to legalize recreational marijuana. One thing stood out during the many weeks I spent on this reporting: It may have been a major event, but it wasn’t a revolution. Image Cups of marijuana plants for sale at a dispensary on the Alderville First Nation.Credit...Tara Walton for The New York Times