Pot stocks are in the doldrums but affluent investors are upbeat.

Despite a bear market that’s seen the average cannabis stock lose more than half its value since March, 79 per cent of Canadians and 74 per cent of Americans still find the industry appealing, according to a new survey of 660 retail investors with at least $250,000 in investable assets.

The survey was commissioned by California-based omnichannel cannabis platform ManifestSeven and conducted by FTI Consulting Inc. It found that 90 per cent of Americans and 82 per cent of Canadians who are currently invested in cannabis believe they’re “completely on track” to achieve their financial goals despite the recent slump in markets.

In news that will be a surprise to few, Cannabis NB has continued to bleed money – even with a bump in its second quarter sales.

Unlike that high school buddy who sold dime bags at lunch and always had cash on hand for the dopest sneakers, Cannabis NB has been steadily losing money since it started selling weed.

When Matt Zabloski turned the corner and looked down at the foyer of Calgary City Hall back in March, 2018, he saw a dozen reporters waiting for him.

“There were about 10 cameras with their lenses trained on an empty space — and I knew I would soon be standing in that space answering questions about bylaws. The information just left my brain,” Zabloski says. That is when he realized his life had changed.

When Zabloski became a civil servant eight years earlier, he expected to be shuffling papers, not leading a newscast. But Calgary’s success in adapting to the legalization of recreational cannabis — and his central role in that development — has made Zabloski a high-profile figure in the city and in the cannabis space.

Two months after online cannabis directory Weedmaps promised it would stop listing illicit marijuana businesses, the Irvine-based company has laid off 25% of its workforce.

More than 100 people across the country, from a writer in Orange County to a policy expert in Massachusetts, were affected by the recent cuts.

“Today was my toughest day during my tenure as CEO,” wrote Weedmaps’ leader, Chris Beals, on Twitter as he announced the cuts.

Poor headwinds and outsized influence of individual investors have dropped valuations at multiple cannabis companies.

To understand why investors and financial analysts have cooled on the cannabis industry, just look at the jobs. Previously, marijuana businesses were all growth. If you needed a job and wanted to change fields, cannabis was fertile soil for a fresh start. While you can still find work in cannabis, the biggest players aren’t hiring like they used to.

Year two of Canada's experiment with legal cannabis has begun, at least in Ontario and Quebec, with layoffs.

Just last week two big producers, Ontario's CannTrust and Quebec's HEXO, combined to leave more than 300 hundred people out of work.

Patsy Copus makes batches of pot-infused gummy bears or cannabis-coated chocolate strawberries every few weeks to help with her arthritis and other medical conditions.

Although cannabis edibles are expected to be sold legally in stores in December, the Windsor, Ont., resident said buying them will likely be a financial struggle.

Health Canada has capped the amount of the psychoactive compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) allowed in food and drinks to 10 milligrams — a restriction Copus said wouldn't meet the needs of some users.

"So for a person who has to take more of a higher dosage, that would be so expensive for them. They couldn't even afford it," said Copus, explaining cost is one of the reasons she makes her own edibles.

Cannabis producers are proving you can judge a book by its cover.

With heavy restrictions on what they are allowed to put on legal packaging, many Canadian growers are making a statement with the packaging itself.

“We’ve been hearing nothing but negative energy (about) the packaging strategies that have a lot of paper and a lot of waste,” Troy Dezwart, executive director and co-founder of Alberta-based Freedom Cannabis told the Winnipeg Free Press.

Saskatchewan plans to lift the lid on legal cannabis sales to help meet consumer demand.

The government says it will open the market to more retailers in the hope of discouraging competition from illegal sellers.

Last year, the province used a lottery system to select 51 retail permit applications, of which 39 have been issued and 12 are still being assessed.

Gene Makowsky, minister for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, says starting in April the government will accept applications for cannabis retail permits in communities with populations less than 2,500.

In September, it will accept permit applications for stores in all communities without any cap.

Municipalities can still opt out of having cannabis retail stores if they wish.