Canadians convicted of possessing 30 grams or less of cannabis are to be pardoned, a source from Justin Trudeau’s ruling Liberal Party has said.

Speaking as Canada became only the second country in the world after Uruguay to legalise the recreational use of cannabis, the source said Ottawa will allow anybody with a criminal record that includes any such charge to apply to have it removed from their files.

Revealing that the exact process people will need to follow to apply for a pardon will be announced in the near future, the official told Canada’s Star newspaper: “For people to whom this applies in their past, we’re going to give them certainty that there will be recourse for them… in terms of exactly how it gets rolled out, the steps that we take, how much time it will take them, we’ll lay that out in the coming days and weeks.”

The announcement was made after members of the New Democratic Party lobbied the Canadian government to pardon people who had been caught in possession of small amounts of cannabis for personal use, noting how such convictions can prevent individuals from marginalised communities from accessing housing and services.

The amnesty was announced after Canada officially legalised cannabis on Wednesday after the country’s parliament voted to do so back in June.

Long queues formed outside new cannabis shops across the country on Tuesday evening ahead of the first legally-sold marijuana being purchased from a store on the eastern island of Newfoundland at midnight.

Tom Clarke, 43, who owns the shop in Newfoundland, told reporters: “I am living my dream. Teenage Tom Clarke is loving what I am doing with my life right now.

“This is awesome. I’ve been waiting my whole life for this. I am so happy to be living in Canada right now instead of south of the border,” added Clarke, who told reporters he had been dealing cannabis illegally in Canada for 30 years.

“It’s been a long time coming. We’ve only been discussing this for 50 years. It’s better late than never.”

Despite the introduction of the new law, it will remain forbidden for Canadians to be in possession of more than 30 grams of cannabis while in public, grow more than four marijuana plants per household or buy the drug from unlicensed dealers.

A French hipster who sports a distinctive long red beard has been jailed in the US after admitting to being a dark web drug dealer known online as “Oxymonster”.

Guy Vallerius was sentenced to 20 years behind bars during a hearing at a Miami federal court having pleaded guilty to two conspiracy charges of distributing drugs and money laundering while acting as a “senior moderator” on dark web marketplace Dream Market.

The 36-year-old was arrested in August 2017 while travelling to a beard and moustache contest in the US.

Police who arrested him found Bitcoins worth $500,000 on his laptop, along with his log-in credentials for Dream Market and the Tor browser, which is used to connect to hidden sites on the dark web.

Vallerius avoided a much harsher sentence by striking a plea deal with prosecutors, who accused him of using Dream Market to sell cocaine, crack, fentanyl, methamphetamine, LSD, Ritalin and oxycodone to users all over the globe.

His lawyer said Vallerius is cooperating fully with investigators who are probing the dark web drugs market, and that his sentence could be reduced if the information he provides proves valuable.

The French drug peddler was caught during an operation in which undercover US investigators made multiple purchases of illegal drugs on Dream Market, which were sent via post by Vallerius to various locations in the Miami region.

Detectives examined Twitter and Instagram accounts run by Vallerius, finding that the writing style of “OxyMonster” on Dream Market bore similarities to that which he used on his social media profiles.

In a letter that was read out in court, Vallerius’ wife pleaded for mercy from the sentencing judge

“Gal is a very caring person, very loving, and friendly with everybody,” Yasmin Vallerius wrote.

“He is also a very fragile and sensitive man, who is now in a foreign country far away from any family members. His arrest has broken him mentally. He has lost everything.”

Vallerius’ sentencing comes days after prosecutors in New York revealed that an Irishman extradited to the US could also face up to 20 years behind bars after he admitted to helping to run the original Silk Road dark web marketplace.

Gary Davis, 30, who initially denied a range of charges that could have resulted in him spending the rest of his life in an American jail, began negotiations on a plea deal with prosecutors last month, the US Justice Department said in a statement.

Drug users in Australia are consuming cocaine in greater numbers, while young people in the country are increasingly turning to higher-purity forms of stimulants such as methamphetamine and ecstasy, according to a new study.

The 2018 Drug Trends Report from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at the University of New South Wales found that a record 59% of drug users had consumed cocaine over the past six months, while one in four had taken ecstasy once a week.

Based on interviews with drug users from all Australian capital cities who regularly consume ecstasy and other stimulants, the study revealed that 31% had taken new psychoactive substances during the sample period, with DMT, 2C and its derivatives, and synthetic cannabinoids such as Spice polling as the most popular.

The report also revealed an increase in consumption of crystal and capsule forms of ecstasy, which are typically reported as being of a higher purity than pills, with use of both types of the drug rising to record levels (72% and 62%, respectively).

Half of respondents said they had taken LSD over the past six months, while more than a third confessed to using ketamine.

One in five said they had consumed capsules containing unknown substances over the study period.

Commenting on the results of the study, Amy Peacock, Programme Lead for Drug Trends at NDARC, said the trend towards the consumption of higher-purity drugs is worrying: “Use of higher purity stimulants can increase the risk of experiencing acute and long-term negative health effects” said Dr Peacock.

“Acute effects may include dehydration, increased or irregular heart rate, agitation, headaches, and seizures. Use over long periods of time without sleep or in combination with other substances can increase the risk of these types of effects.”

Separately, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC)’s fifth National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program has revealed that use of deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl is increasing across the country, with consumption of the drug doubling in regional areas.

The study, which is compiled using analysis of samples of wastewater taken from the country’s sewers, showed that methamphetamine remains the most popular illicit drug in Australia, and that of 23 countries with comparable reported data for four common stimulants, Australia has the second highest total estimated consumption after the US.

“While fentanyl consumption measured by the programme reflects both licit and illicit use, increased consumption is of concern as the high potency of fentanyl greatly increases the risk of overdose,” the ACIC said.