The marijuana industry has delivered one milestone after another in 2018.

The highlight, of course, was the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada on Oct. 17, 2018, which ended nine decades of adult-use prohibition. However, we also witnessed two more U.S. states legalize medical pot, which went along with Michigan becoming the 10th state to OK recreational weed use. Add in pot stock uplistings, the first cannabis-derived drug being approved in the U.S., and Tilray becoming the first pot stock to IPO on a reputable U.S. exchange, and you have the makings of a groundbreaking year.

Canada's privacy commissioner is planning to issue guidance for buyers and sellers of legal cannabis amid ongoing concern about potential fallout, such as being barred from the United States, if transactions become known by third parties.

The concern has been heightened in provinces where anonymously paying cash in-store is not possible in light of a controversial Statistics Canada initiative to obtain detailed bank records from all Canadians.

Canada is legalizing the adult use of marijuana on Oct. 17 and will be the second and largest country to do so. The federal government established the broad outline of the legalization law but left it up to provinces and territories to fill in some of the details — such as whether to allow home grows, to establish a legal purchase age of 18 or 19, and whether to sell through government-run pot shops or private outlets.

Here‘s a look at how the industry will look, as well as some key differences between Canada‘s approach and that of the nine U.S. states that have legalized so-called recreational marijuana:

Alberta law enforcement officials say they are worried that the legalization of marijuana could lead to potentially explosive consequences for users taking a do-it-yourself approach to making cannabis derivatives at home.

Just over a month ago, Canadians were given the right to purchase dried and fresh cannabis and unconcentrated forms of cannabis oil.

It is likely to be another year before concentrates will be legalized.

"What's going to happen — and this is just my prediction — is that people are going to do a butane hash extraction at home and they're going to blow themselves up," said Sgt. Guy Pilon, clandestine lab co-ordinator with the Edmonton Police Service.

Several city councillors say they want to opt out of having private cannabis stores in Hamilton, especially given how close they can be to schools.

At least four of Hamilton's 15 councillors say they want more control over where pot stores go and are unhappy with key parts of the new provincial guidelines released Wednesday. Under the new guidelines, the shops can't be within 150 metres of schools. Councillors wanted 300 metres.

Unless those changes are made, they say, they don't want private shops in Hamilton at all.

"I'm appalled by the ridiculous minimum of only 150 metres (approximately 450 feet) that a recreational store has to be away from a nearby school with lots of children," said Tom Jackson of Ward 6. The planned setback, he said, is "shameful."

In the days following the legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada, HEXO was quick to send out a press release touting its ability to meet demand where other companies had fallen short.

In the early days of legalisation, James Burns was confident his company had enough product on the shelves of its five new cannabis retail stores, even though they only received half of their order from the provincial supplier.

Now, he has had staff refreshing the government supply website in the early hours to snap up scarce new stock as soon as it's available, and is considering restricting store hours.

"While there was product to order we were very comfortably getting a large amount of it," says Burns, the CEO of Alcanna, a company that owns a chain of private liquor stores in Canada and the US and, now, cannabis stores in the province of Alberta.

Earlier this year, all the hype was around beverage companies and other industries looking to partner up with the cannabis industry. However, recently that excitement has died down a little bit as some big companies have poured some cold water on the idea.

When Canadian provinces across the country came up against shortages of marijuana in the first month of legalization, it was frustrating. But even more frustrating is that this current lack could last for years.

According to Khurram Malik, CEO of Biome Grow Inc., the shortage is not only due to delays in licensing, but is also partly caused by the strict regulations on the country’s 132 licensed producers and enforced by Health Canada. The time needed by cannabis businesses to come up with a product that’s not only up to par, but is also compliant is standing in the way as well. These are problems projected to persist into the foreseeable future.

Canadian police have not seen a spike in cannabis-impaired driving one month since legalization, but there needs to be more awareness of laws around storing marijuana in vehicles and passengers smoking weed, law enforcement officials say.

The Canadian Press canvassed police forces and provincial and territorial Crowns across the country and while some said it was too early to provide data, others said initial numbers and anecdotal impressions suggest stoned driving isn't on the rise.

"Even before the legislation we were catching a lot of high school kids because marijuana has seemed to be kind of mainstream forever," said Sgt. Joe Cantelo of the Kennebecasis Regional Police Force in New Brunswick.