Interestingly, all of the above except "meaning it can be sold by shops" is also true in the UK (level of tolerance may depend on how you're otherwise perceived by law enforcement including racial profiling, etc, but I've seen people walk up to police officers and smoke a joint in their face and they've not done anything beyond take it off them and give them a verbal warning). I guess being able to walk into a shop and buy it rather than having to find a dealer makes it quite a different experience overall though.