Exactly one year after legalization Smithers finally has its first legal pot shop.

Rural Leaf opened its doors at 10 a.m at their Main St location on Thursday (Oct 17). Shortly after the doors were unlocked the store was filled with customers looking to buy cannabis products.

The store is the first legal store in the Bulkley Valley.

Cara Schaefer was one of the first group of customers to enter the store and said she is excited about the store opening.

“I’m so happy for the three of them and for their staff. I think there’s going to be a pretty easy market here and I’m really excited for them,” she said.

Council approved of the license for the pot shop last May.

The store’s opening date kept getting pushed due to things out of their control.

Peter Greene, store co-owner was the one who brought up the idea for the cannabis shop in Smithers last October.

Greene said there was a lot of patience involved with the opening.

“It has tested our patience and pushing us because we all had jobs so, to do all this and jumping through hoops just to open a store, I have a new respect for every store in town and everyone who started a business,” he said.

Thursday also marked the day edibles, extracts and topicals are now legal in Canada.

Greene also said in December the store will start getting the cannabis edibles, creams, and bath bombs.

Rural Leaf can be found at 1126 Main St. Beside Northstar Cafe.