Cannabis users looking to get marijuana at Barrie's only legal dispensary will have to wait a bit longer.

After days of long lines, people flocking to 'One Plant' showed up today to a closed sign on the door.

It read: "We have temporarily shut down due to current circumstances regarding Covid-19. Thank you for your understanding."

Early Friday evening, management at One Plant told CTV News the store was temporarily closed in an abundance of caution after a staff member told them that they had been in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

"This decision was taken by One Plant leadership as a precautionary measure due to the rapidly evolving novel Coronavirus (Covid-19)," wrote Manager Ryan Grenville.

A new policy directive from the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch will be welcome news for anyone who doesn’t want to linger inside a store waiting for their purchases.

Under the revised policy released Friday, the LCRB has clarified that retailers can now take online or phone reservations for non-medical cannabis products from customers; previously the regulator had only stipulated that online sales were banned.

Retailers still can’t sell their products online, but under the revised policy they can allow customers to reserve products online.

Customers must still go to the retail location to purchase and pick up their products.

A new analysis from Babylon Health shows cannabidiol (CBD) has a high ratio of Instagram posts to academic research articles, suggesting the compound may be more than just a fad.

The London-based remote healthcare provider analyzed the disparity between the number of Instagram posts tagged with its hashtag—for example, #CleanBeauty—to the number of Google Scholar articles about the subject.

Out of ten hashtags analyzed under the “Wellness” category, #CBD was the third-most tagged on Instagram with more than 8 million posts, following behind #Mindfulness with 15.7 million posts and #Meditation with 27.6 million posts.

New Frontier Data, the leading data provider in the cannabis industry, is hosting its first ever virtual cannabis town hall this April to discuss the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the marijuana business. 

The Global Cannabis Town Hall: New Economic Realities will be held virtually on April 2, 2020. Representing different parts of the world, partners of the upcoming town hall will be ExpoCannaBiz (Latin America), CannaTech (Middle East and Asia Pacific), New West Summit (North America), RASB Media (Europe) and CannabisBPO.

Islanders don’t appear ready to put any distance between them and their supply of pot and booze.

The provincial government is exploring ways to turn the taps back on after announcing it was “disappointed in Islanders’ response,” to the decision to close all liquor and cannabis stores as of 2 p.m. local time on Thursday. Long lines soon formed at stores around the province on word the time to stock up was nearing an end.

Business owners in Nunavut can now apply to open kiosks to sell cannabis from their stores — even when minors are in the building. 

To make cannabis retailing more accessible to Nunavut's business community, amendments to the territory's Cannabis Act are allowing businesses, like grocery stores and hotels, to sell cannabis products in places where minors also shop.  

Bills for those changes passed in the Legislative Assembly during the recent winter sitting. 

"The federal regulations are really strict around minors and we support that, but we wanted to give an opportunity for cannabis business to be successful in a small community," said Jo-Anne Falkiner, director of corporate finance with the territory's Department of Finance. 

To manage stress in the face of the coronavirus pandemic or just to pass the time under quarantine, Canadians and tourists have been lining up for several days at pot shops and flooding online cannabis retailers' sites to stock up on the mood-altering drug.

In front of the Societe Quebecoise du Cannabis (SQDC) boutique on Sainte-Catherine Street, Montreal's main commercial drive, a long line has formed before it even opens.

"We decided to quarantine, we're just going to look for weed for the 15 days," says Maureen Duflot, 28. She arrived in Montreal Tuesday evening with her partner on the last flight from Paris before Canada closed its borders to foreigners.

It seems most businesses are reporting dismal outlooks during the pandemic. Event organizers, airlines, bars, restaurants, theatres – you name it everyone is suffering. Everyone except cannabis.

Business intelligence from Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN) said that cannabis sales are thriving during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company provided the following statistics:

The numbers March 11 – March 18:

Cannabis company Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC) has brought some big-name star power to its brand over the years, including Snoop Dogg, Martha Stewart, Drake, and Seth Rogen. But one of the challenges in the cannabis industry, especially in Canada where regulations are very rigid, is that Canopy Growth can't easily use its size, resources, or branding to its advantage. Spending a lot more on marketing may not pay off in the industry, and that's no more evident than in the following two numbers.

Aggressive health measures to stem the spread of the Coronavirus or COVID-19 are changing everything, including the operation of CBD businesses.  And if there’s one thing CBD business owners are accustomed to, it’s change.

Dramatic shifts in in-store and online shopping patterns are palpable and have the potential to become permanent as consumers adjust to public health demands to go out less and shop online more.