On September 1, the AGCO announced the Government of Ontario’s direction to double the pace of cannabis Retail Store Authorizations (RSA) beginning this fall, from 20 to 40 per month.

Consumers’ purchasing patterns involving marijuana have changed noticeably over the past several months in response to the coronavirus crisis.

Marijuana shoppers are spending more money per visit to recreational retail outlets. But they are shopping less often, perhaps for safety, or scheduling, reasons.

Our heat map of weekly adult-use sales changes in four western states show sales recovering through the year, with retailers benefiting from favorable treatment by state governments that allowed them to stay open or provide curbside service.

Few industries offer as much promise this decade as marijuana. After generating $10.9 billion in worldwide sales in 2018, Wall Street analysts are forecasting anywhere from $50 billion to $200 billion in global sales by 2030. While not every pot stock can be a winner, these would appear to be incredible growth figures for investors to piggyback on.

However, there's been a wild divergence to date between the U.S. and Canadian cannabis markets.

Can These Leading Pot Stocks Build More Momentum Before Next Year?

There is a renewed reckoning about the exclusion of women and people of colour from power and resources worldwide.

The cannabis industry is no exception to this sad fact. For too long, the concentration of power within the rapidly expanding sector, particularly in the United States, has been male and white, shutting out the communities most impacted by cannabis prohibition.

The Ontario Cannabis Store says Thomas Haig has been appointed interim president and chief executive.

The provincial pot distributor says Haig was chosen because of his experience in retail and logistics that he earned while in key positions at Hudson's Bay Co., Zellers, Giant Tiger and Danier.

Haig succeeds Cal Bricker, who took a leave from being the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp's senior vice-president of horse racing to lead the OCS a year ago.

The OCS says Bricker is moving on from his role at the organization, but did not specify what he has planned next.

In the coming months, Haig will oversee distribution to new retail stores.

What is the Cannabis Industry Up To This Month?

The legal cannabis industry is going global.

Dozens of countries now allow legal medical cannabis sales in some form, and more are looking to do the same for adult-use cannabis.

Currently, only Canada and Uruguay have legalized cannabis for adult use, however, that will likely change sooner rather than later.

Several countries are exploring a policy change to permit adult-use cannabis, and Italy, Mexico, and South Africa are in the process of implementing pro-legalization court decisions.

The spread of cannabis reform across the globe is being paralleled by the rise of the legal international cannabis industry.

Cannabis imports and exports are already allowed in several countries, with more on the way.

Although all eyes have been on work-from-home stocks over the past couple of months, Wall Street may be ignoring one of the fastest-growing industries on the planet over the next decade: marijuana. In the U.S. alone, legal weed sales could triple between 2019 and 2024.

But the cannabis industry is also navigating its way through some expected growing pains. Canada has dealt with no shortage of supply issues, while high tax rates in the U.S. have made it difficult for licensed producers to compete with black-market growers.

A group advocating on behalf of municipalities and some First Nations across B.C. wants the province to share its cannabis excise tax revenue.

The Union of B.C. Municipalities' outgoing president Maja Tait said Friday that 99 per cent of the group's 189 members voted in favour of seeking a portion of the revenue this week at a convention.

The excise cannabis tax is paid by licensed cannabis producers when their products are delivered to a retailer or customer and the federal government retains 25 per cent of the money up to $100 million a year.

The remaining 75 per cent is given to provinces and territories, which have the option to pass it along to municipalities.