The Latest: Canada to address past pot possession cases

The Latest on marijuana legalization in Canada. (all times local):

12:30 p.m.

The point person for the Canadian government's legalization of pot says Canadians will know soon what will happen with previous criminal convictions for pot possession.

Just hours before recreational marijuana becomes legal Tuesday, Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction Bill Blair said answers will be forthcoming shortly that will help Canadian understand the appropriate way those criminal records will be addressed.

The former Toronto police chief says the issue could not be dealt with until the law was changed.

On Wednesday, Canada becomes the second and largest country with a legal national marijuana marketplace. Uruguay was first.

11 a.m.

Canada will become the second and largest country with a legal, nationwide marijuana marketplace when sales begin at midnight in the easternmost province of Newfoundland.

Tom Clarke will be among the first to legally sell recreational marijuana when his shop opens in Newfoundland. He has been dealing marijuana for 30 years and says his teenage self would love what he's doing with his life.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has spent about two years planning for legalization, fueled by a desire to bring dealers like Clarke out of the black market and into a regulated system.

At least 111 legal pot shops are planning to open across the nation of 37 million people on the first day, according to an Associated Press survey of the provinces.