New entrepreneur Shaun Baid is feeling excited about his prospects these days. Mr. Baid, a Calgary accountant who was laid off last year amid the energy sector downturn, is now working with three partners to open a cannabis retail store.

“It’s super exciting times, all across the country, but especially here in Alberta,” said Mr. Baid, chief financial officer of Kush Collective. “It feels like Alberta is where this whole gold rush is going to happen.”

That’s because Alberta’s NDP government has adopted a private model for cannabis retailers, following in the footsteps of the province’s private liquor retail model. (Online cannabis sales will be government-run in Alberta.)

Bob Kay feels a twinge of fear every day as he runs his business in Kelowna, B.C., but he charges forward knowing he’s helping people ease their pain.

For the past 10 years Kay has been operating a medical marijuana dispensary “in a legal limbo,” running the risk of a police raid as the country prepares for the legalization of recreational pot this summer.

Be Kind is a “compassion club,” he says, helping those with chronic pain and providing cannabis in various forms to those who are prescribed it through a health practitioner.

Viewers can go inside the operation as it’s featured in the new docu-series “Bud Empire,” premiering Tuesday on History.

The Question

What do employers think about a candidate who has worked for one of the large cannabis companies in Canada in a strictly business/management function? I have an offer from one, and am getting mixed responses from friends and family. With the taboo regarding this industry still strong, I wonder if I’m committing career suicide or red-flagging myself for future opportunities outside of this firm. I am personally liberal on this issue, but others aren’t.

The First Answer

Greg Conner

Vice-president human resources and corporate secretary, BC Transit

Marijuana businesses are growing in size and scope as Canada moves toward legalization of recreational pot, creating an increasingly daunting job for those tasked with enforcing the rules.

In Vancouver's bustling downtown, sleek, modern posters with fashionable fonts and simple images are plastered on lamp posts. It's not until you take a closer look that you spot the rolled joints inside a sandwich or buds among a plate of broccoli.

"Weed delivery. Simplified," the posters read.

Once an underground industry, marijuana delivery services are now advertising publicly, joining unlicensed retail stores and online shops as cannabis businesses openly skirting the existing law.

Cierra Sieben-Chuback says permit offer is like 'my birthday on steroids'.

Saskatoon business school student Cierra Sieben-Chuback has beaten out more more than 150 other candidates for one of seven highly sought-after permits to operate a cannabis retail store in the city.

Sieben-Chuback, 23, has never run her own business before, but that's about to change very quickly.

"I convocate on Wednesday," she said of her impending graduation from the University of Saskatchewan's Edwards School of Business.

"It's like my birthday on steroids. This is quite surreal, I'm not going to lie."

'All by myself'

Canopy Growth, which will produce most of Newfoundland and Labrador's legal cannabis, is holding a job fair this weekend in St. John's to start staffing both its retail stores and production facility.

The company held the job fair for its Tweed brand, with plans to fill 75-100 jobs at its four retail stores in St. John's, Conception Bay South, Mount Pearl and Corner Brook. Another fair will be held a later time to fill the more than 150 jobs for the Canopy production plant.

The job fair is taking place Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Rocket in downtown St. John's, and officials from the company said turn out was already great by mid-day Saturday.

'The clothing you wear and the skis and everything you do ... is performance enhancing'.

The world's top agency fighting doping in sport considers cannabis to be a performance-enhancing drug — but it's Canadian affiliate, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports (CCES), does not agree.

On Tuesday, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will hold its first global athlete's forum in Calgary to discuss developments in anti-doping.

Discussions around a charter to protect clean athletes, doping rules and the list of banned substances will be prominent, especially with Canada set to legalize recreational cannabis.

"The CCES, to be completely frank, has always argued that marijuana should not be on the list," the organization's president, Paul Melia, said.

Marijuana stocks are starting to pick up steam again. This year has been a rough one so far for pot stocks, but there are signs that the hype is returning to the industry, which could make it a great time to buy. The reason for the hype is that we’re getting closer to legalization and other pot-related news is helping the industry stay in the headlines. One big development was Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB) making another acquisition as the company continues to strengthen its position in the market; with so much fragmentation in the industry, there are still more mergers and…

Lost in the news when Canopy Growth Corp. (TSX:WEED)(NYSE:CGC) listed on the NYSE was the latest addition to the Cannabis Stock Exchange, legally referred to as the Canadian Securities Exchange.

MedMen Enterprises Inc. (CSE:MMEN) began trading on the CSE May 29 after completing a reverse merger with Ladera Ventures that saw its shareholders end up with one share in MMEN for every 9.263 shares in the predecessor.

A reverse merger, reverse split. How often do you see that? I guess anything’s possible in the uber-growth cannabis industry.

Don’t overlook MedMen

Recreational cannabis use to be prohibited in Churchill Square, Fort Edmonton Park, Edmonton Valley Zoo.

City councillors are grappling with where, when and how people use recreational cannabis in public spaces in Edmonton.

"It's a real challenge, balancing the rights and interests of people," says Coun. Scott McKeen. "We have to get our regulations at an appropriate level." 

Provincial regulations already restrict smoking or vaping cannabis in the same way as tobacco, though they further limit use around children and youth. 

The long list of no-toke zones under consideration include: