NPA councillor wants cannabis at pot shops to come from Health Canada-approved producers.

You may have heard that NPA Coun. Melissa De Genova introduced a motion at city council this week in an effort to take a bite out of organized crime’s involvement in marijuana dispensaries.

You probably didn’t hear that her motion went up in smoke…for now.

You probably didn’t hear because you were not in the council chamber at 10 p.m. Wednesday, or watching the livestream from your computer when debate on the motion came to a halt after De Genova’s NPA colleague, Hector Bremner, voted against extending the meeting beyond 10 bells.

As a rule, council has to be unanimous in wanting to go beyond 10 p.m.

Why did Bremner do it?

The process of making pot-production and sales a legitimate industry can best be described as “hurry up and wait,” said the City of Vernon manager of economic development and tourism.

Kevin Poole says the regulatory framework for a legalized cannabis industry being developed by federal and provincial governments has raised many cost issues for their civic counterparts, and has raised questions ranging from how to train and educate the industry workforce to tourism marketing opportunities.

“This industry will be about creating partnerships and right now the provincial government is a bit slow out of the gate on developing a framework for how this is going to unfold,” Poole said.

Namaste Technologies Inc., the owner of online stores that sell vaporizers and bongs, is taking unusual steps to stabilize its share price and thwart an attack on its business by short-sellers.

The small Vancouver company is asking its investors to promise that they won’t sell their shares over the next three months. And as a thanks for those who show proof that they held their shares, Namaste says it’s going to throw a big party at the end of the summer.

Namaste investors have had little to celebrate of late. The stock fell 2.35 per cent on Thursday to $1.66, well below its late December peak of $4.40 amid a sector-wide sell-off.

Cannvas MedTech Inc. ("Cannvas MedTech" or the "Company"), a leading business technology company within the cannabis space, is pleased to announce its lead sponsorship role at the upcoming Medical Cannabis Week in Toronto. This inaugural event brings together the thought leaders in the Canadian medical cannabis sector and is presented by Business of Cannabis in partnership with Cannvas MedTech, WeedMD, Ample Organics, TechTO, HealthTO, SheCann, Blakes, Cassels & Graydon LLP, RNMKR PR, Salesforce, Emblem and other leading industry partners.

Bacardi broker to launch new cannabis distribution company to represent Aphria products to retailers and regulators across the country.

The Canadian arm of alcohol distributor Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits LLC is entering the cannabis market by launching a marijuana-focused broker and partnering with licensed producer Aphria Inc.

The new company, Great North Distributors Inc., will represent Aphria products to retailers and regulators across the country, essentially acting as Aphria’s on-the-spot salesforce, the company said on Thursday.

“We’re going to be able to take a lot of the experience we have from the beverage alcohol market and translate it to the cannabis market,” said Doug Wieland, general manager of Southern Glazer’s Canadian division.

Robinson's Cannabis building new facility to open Dec. 1.

A Kentville cannabis producer says a new partnership between his company and a national investment network will grow local economic benefits and jobs.

Andrew Robinson is the owner of Robinson’s Cannabis, the soon to be Kentville-based cannabis production facility newly acquired by Cannabis Wheaton’s, a network of investors that provides capital support to cannabis enterprises across Canada and is excited about this new partnership.

Robinson described how the partnership will take his budding company from a local enterprise to the national and global markets, saying this is “something our team is so excited about.”

The City of Langford wants recreational cannabis retailers in the municipality to help cover the costs of regulation, enforcement and education around the drug. 

Langford has previously been hostile to the idea of dispensaries, but council is now accepting proposals for up to five recreational stores to operate when marijuana becomes legal later this year. 

The city says applicants must detail the direct financial contributions they plan to make to policing and administration.

Researchers develop faster test for cannabis quality.

With pot legalization on its way, producers are increasingly looking for quick and accurate means of determining the potency and quality of their plants.

Researchers at UBC’s Okanagan campus have developed a new method of measuring phytocannabinoids—the primary bioactive molecules in cannabis—that will lead to faster, safer and more accurate information for producers, regulators and consumers alike.

Affinor Growers Ltd. (“Affinor Growers”) (CSE:AFI) (OTC:RSSFF) (Frankfurt:1AF) is pleased to announce it has signed a definitive license agreement , with a later stage Licensed Producer Applicant in British Columbia. The license represents royalties of 3% of all products grown using the patented technology and gives the exclusive rights for Vancouver Island for Fruits, Vegetables and Marijuana once the Health Canada license is achieved, to grow, process, import and export Marijuana.

This niche product is probably more important than you realize to marijuana stocks.

Few industries have investors seeing green quite like legal marijuana. According to cannabis research firm ArcView, in partnership with BDS Analytics, the North American legal weed market grew by 33% in 2017 to $9.7 billion. A decade from now, we could be looking at more than $47 billion in annual North American sales.