The Town of Amherstburg made another pot-positive move Tuesday evening with the approval of new regulations for future cannabis production facilities.

With no federal guidelines telling municipalities where industry-level marijuana cultivators can and cannot set up shop, the town created its own zoning bylaw amendment for licensed growers looking to move to Amherstburg.

“It’s nice to set ourselves up for another industry,” said Amherstburg Mayor Aldo DiCarlo following the town council meeting. “Diversification, I think, is the answer.”

Aphria Inc. became the first large pot producer to report a second consecutive profitable quarter Tuesday, sending its stock up as much as 16% in early trading.

The company said it earned C$16.4 million on revenue of C$126.1 million in the quarter ended Aug. 31, a slight decline from the prior quarter. It also reiterated its outlook for fiscal 2020, which calls for revenue of C$650 million to C$700 million and adjusted Ebitda of C$88 million to C$95 million.

In an outdoor parking lot between a shelter and a Tim Hortons in downtown Ottawa, black market cannabis dealer Jay (not his real name) said he can’t think of the last time business has been so good. His pop-up dispensary moves around the capital city from time to time, depending on when he gets tipped off about potential police raids, which he said have tapered off lately. Despite the legalization of recreational cannabis almost a year ago, Jay insists his customer base has remained strong.

“I do my own market research,” Jay said. “I ask people, ‘Why don’t you go to Hobo (a legal cannabis store in Ottawa)?’ They say, ‘Legal product tastes bad. It’s s—t.’ I say, ‘Don’t worry, I got you.’”

New regulations for cannabis edibles and topicals come into effect on Oct. 17, with products expected to reach store shelves in December

Here’s what consumers and parents need to know

“Edibles” is the umbrella term for cannabis-infused products, which can include beverages, cotton candy, dissolvable strips, gummy candies or baked goods. And topicals are products which can include lotions, balms, and oils absorbed through the skin for relief of pain or inflammation, according to Leafly.

Cierra Sieben-Chuback had just completed her degree at the University of Saskatchewan when she received a cash offer few debt-laden students can even imagine.

As Sieben-Chuback was looking to the future in June 2018, she discovered she was among 51 lottery winners of licences to obtain permits to operate legal cannabis retail stores in Saskatchewan.

Others found out about her good fortune, too — which resulted in multiple offers from large companies for her permit, as high as a “couple million” dollars, “Which is crazy because I’ve never in my life been offered that kind of money,” she said.

There’s no denying that marijuana is a booming market. After Colorado legalized marijuana in 2014, 147 recreational dispensaries opened in the state that year — a number that grew to 509 by 2018. Six other states have since legalized recreational marijuana. In a word, business is booming.

Within an industry facing such unprecedented growth, cannabis brands are met with big challenges when it comes to differentiation. Hundreds of new brands launch every year. High-profile personalities like comedian Tommy Chong and former boxer Mike Tyson are getting in on the game. Competition is fierce, and many companies are faced with the unique challenge of working to develop a trustworthy and recognizable brand while adhering to stringent state rules.

As we near the second half of October, there are many pot stocks that have remained on the watchlist. These companies are putting forth their effort to be the most innovative marijuana stock in the market. With so much competition amongst certain pot stocks to watch, it can be difficult to deduce which companies are worth keeping an eye on. One of the best ways to solve this is through the use of strategic research of many different pot stocks.

CannTrust Holdings Inc. is planning to destroy approximately $77 million worth of cannabis as the beleaguered pot producer seeks to restore regulatory compliance.

In a press release issued on Thanksgiving Monday, CannTrust said it will not challenge Health Canada’s Sept. 17 decision to suspend the company’s sales and production licences. Instead, CannTrust said it “remains focused on working collaboratively and transparently with the regulator to address the company’s non-compliance matters.”

Those “non-compliance matters” first came to light in early July when CannTrust disclosed that it had run afoul of Health Canada due to unlicensed production at its Pelham, Ont. facility. 

It was the advice given many times to maiden pot users, emboldened by Canadian legalization to take their first tokes over the past year:

“Start low and go slow.”

But that urging for baptismal moderation on an individual level — particularly regarding concentrations and consumption of the plant’s psychoactive THC component — could easily pass as a description of the entire cannabis rollout.

As the country approaches the first anniversary of legal weed on Oct. 17, a look back reveals that many important elements of the deployment appeared to lurch and stagger over their first steps.