Now that weed Wednesday is finally here, how are people feeling about legalization?

On the first day of cannabis legalization in Canada, the general feeling is positive.

“We’ve been fighting the drug war for so long and accomplished nothing. So let it go,” said Bill Wirth.“If people want it, you get it. Use a lick of sense and don't go crazy.”

Kevin Benner believes "that adults can do what adults want to do.”

Even with the general support, there is still some worry about what social effect pot might have.

“I certainly don't want to be driving with a lot of people who are high on marijuana,” said Maryanne. “Because when you get behind a car you just do need your judgement.”

Alex Khasnabish is an associate professor of sociology and anthropology at Mount Saint Vincent University.

“I think that there's a lot of trepidation around the legalization,” he said. “What's it going to mean? How many people are going to drive while under the influence? How will this affect kids? For me it points in the direction of what sociologists like to call moral panics around certain kinds of substances.”

In Halifax, the line outside an NSLC Cannabis outlet stretched around the corner, but Sam Morden says that's what she expected.

“I think people would be surprised at how many average people use it,” she said.

Which leads to the question: will more people smoke pot now that they can?

“I don't think I'm going to be smoking any more or less just because it's legal now,” said Sean Jordan.

What about first time users?

“Absolutely not,” said Maryanne. “At age 80 with poor balance, arthritis and all those good things, I could tip over.”

But for Alex Calder, first impressions are good.

“I kind of like it, it seems pretty legit,” said Calder. “I guess I trust the product is what I'm trying to say.”

Now, Calder hopes that legalization will help reduce the “stoner stigma.”

“Hopefully there's some criminal justice reform to expunge some records of people who aren’t so fortunate or have records or minor issues related to pot in the past,” Calder said.

But Khasnabish says those sorts of criminal and social reforms will likely take months, and maybe years.

“In countries like Portugal, which have pursued much more ambitious drug legalization, or decriminalization, you see the initial panic around what's it going to mean and then quite quickly we see that it doesn't really alter too much in the fabric of our daily lives,” he said.

Daily lives that for many now include legal cannabis.

One of the biggest seems to be around driving while using marijuana, which is something that will likely evolve as both law enforcement and the justice system develop new policies for pot.

Many people say -- both on and off camera -- that despite the hype, things will probably stay the same for a lot of people.

Khasnabish estimates that within a year or so, attitudes will mellow, and people might start looking at weed more like alcohol.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Emily Baron Cadloff.