After a red-hot start to the year, marijuana stocks were taken to the woodshed in the third quarter of 2019. Top names like Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB), Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC), and Tilray (NASDAQ:TLRY) all lost a significant amount of their value over the past three months, thanks to a slew of headwinds such as health concerns over vaping, managerial instability, scandals, and an increasingly risk-averse market. 

Choom™ (CSE: CHOO; OTCQB: CHOOF), an emerging adult use cannabis company that has secured one of the largest national retail networks in Canada, is pleased to announce that an Alberta provincially approved cannabis retail licensee (“Licensee”) is opening a cannabis retail store in Westlock, Alberta operating under the Choom brand.

A legal battle launched by a group of 11 disqualified pot shop applicants in Ontario has been dismissed by a panel of judges, according to a court filing obtained by BNN Bloomberg.

Lawyers representing the disqualified applicants argued that their clients didn’t receive fair process when they were notified that they won the lottery.

The three judges overseeing the notice for judicial review – Justice David Corbett, Justice Katherine Swinton and Justice Robbie Gordon – ruled to dismiss the application brought forward by the disqualified applicants.

Ontario is exploring the possibility of no longer running the province’s wholesale cannabis distribution business, according to several people familiar with the matter, a move that could substantially lower prices of legal pot in the province. 

Ontario, which is Canada's biggest market for legal pot, will begin consultations with various industry members to pursue a Saskatchewan-like distribution model where licensed cannabis producers will ship directly to retailers, the sources said. An announcement could come as early as next week, the sources added. 

The advancement of the SAFE Banking Act indicates it won’t be long before U.S. stock exchanges open up to cannabis listings, a potential blow to Canadian bourses that have carved a lucrative niche for pot.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 321-103 last week in favour of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act, which would allow banks to do business with legal cannabis companies. Currently, the industry is forced to conduct many transactions in cash because of its lack of access to the banking system.

The bill now faces the more difficult hurdle of the Republican-controlled Senate, but most industry analysts believe a version of it will pass by next year.

Federal red tape and foot-dragging on approving makers of edible cannabis will see months-long delays in the products reaching stores, a Calgary chocolatier said Thursday.

A spokeswoman with Alberta’s cannabis regulator also voiced frustrations about the process.

City businessman Brad Churchill said he’s been waiting for a licence allowing him to infuse chocolate with cannabis at his Calgary factory since applying for it in late July.

The owner of Choklat said he received a reply from Health Canada but no licence this week, and fears the time it takes to receive it and approval for such things as packaging will push back the actual sales date for his products to March or April.

A U.S. recommendation that consumers avoid vaping products containing the active ingredient in marijuana ahead of their legalization in Canada next month could be a blow to Canadian cannabis companies’ hopes that the higher-margin products will help propel them to profitability.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday that an investigation into 805 confirmed or probable cases of vaping-related respiratory illnesses suggested that products containing THC, the psychoactive element in cannabis, likely played a role.

Some Nova Scotians are still buying from illegal sources, according to a survey conducted on behalf of the NSLC about cannabis use in the province.

The survey covered the first six months after legalization in October 2018.

According to telephone and online surveys conducted by Narrative Research in March and April, 41 per cent of Nova Scotians who were buying recreational cannabis were purchasing their product exclusively from the NSLC.

But the survey also said 40 per cent of people were purchasing cannabis from both the NSLC and illegal sources, while about 20 per cent were buying solely from illegal sources.

"It tells us that we are making an impact on the illicit market," said Beverley Ware, spokesperson for the NSLC.

A third Canadian cannabis company has had its trading licence suspended following the recent fiasco with Ontario-based producer CannTrust.

Evergreen Medicinal Supply’s licence to grow and sell cannabis has been suspended by Health Canada, following an inspection of the British Columbia firm’s facilities in August, reports BNN Bloomberg.

It reports a Health Canada spokesperson as saying the suspension is a result of non-compliance, and designed to ‘protect public health and safety, including preventing cannabis from being diverted to the illegal market’.

Dubbed “Cannabis 2.0,” we’re on the verge of seeing a second significant change in the marijuana industry. Cannabis 2.0 talks about the second wave of Canadian adult-use recreational marijuana legalization. Less than a month from now, Canada is going to legalize several cannabis derivatives.

The country will legalize the use of cannabis-infused beverages, edibles, and vapes on October 17, 2019. Cannabis 2.0 follows Cannabis 1.0 from last year.

On October 17, 2018, Canada legalized the use of recreational marijuana and sales, but the legalization covered only dry cannabis flowers, oils, plants, seeds, and sublingual sprays.