Legalized marijuana is harshing the buzz of three longtime craft beer meccas, according to a new report from Cowen and Company.

In Colorado, Oregon and Washington, where recreational cannabis use has been legalized, the beer business is underperforming, according to Vivien Azer, Cowen and Company’s managing director and senior research analyst specializing in the beverage, tobacco and cannabis sectors.

Azer unpacked the latest Nielsen data in those three states — beer markets that have “collectively underperformed” in the last two years — and found that “the magnitude of the underperformance has increased notably,” with beer volumes falling more than two percent year-to-date and trailing the overall U.S. beer market.

Can ICC Make a Big Impact on Pot Stock? 

International Cannabis Corp (CVE:ICC) is the new kid on the block in the pot stock business hitting the Canadian TSX Venture market. And as the name implies, it’s not strictly limited to Canada, with Uruguay set to be one of the key facets of its operation.

Why Uruguay? Because a pot stock based out of there has a pretty big consumer base from which to draw. Of the 3.4 million people living in the South American country, an estimated 55,000 plus engage in marijuana use, sparking up 40 grams per month on average.

Master P is putting his bid in on the legal cannabis industry with “Master P’s Trees.”

The “Ice Cream Man” is getting in on the legal dope game. OG rapper/entrepreneur Master P has announced that he dropping his own line of “premium cannabis products” called Master P’s Trees.

The product line will feature flower strains, edibles and what he is calling “liquid gold” vape oil. P is hoping to stand out in the growing marketplace with flavors like Sweet Tea, Peach Cobbler, Coolaide, Red Velvet and Chocolate Beignet.

Colorado agriculture officials are taking steps to make industrial hemp -- marijuana’s agrarian cousin  -- more mainstream. They’ve certified three hemp seed varieties, becoming the first state in the country to do so.

A seed certification is akin to a stamp of approval, letting farmers know the plant performs well in Colorado’s soil and climate.

The certification also ensures that farmers won’t break federal law by cultivating plants above the legal threshold for THC, the psychoactive compound found in cannabis. Hemp that tests above a concentration of 0.3 percent THC must be destroyed, according to state rules. That threshold was set in the 2014 Farm Bill.

About a month ago, on an unseasonably warm Wednesday evening in the courtyard of the Oakland Museum, partygoers in blazers and floor-length gowns mingled, sipping champagne and martinis. A DJ spun remixes on a neon-lit stage. A photographer snapped photos. Tiki torches and triple-decker towers of appetizers helped set the mood.

It looked like any fancy A-list event, save for the cloud of marijuana smoke hovering over a cordoned off area, the most crowded section of the party. Revelers passed joints back and forth, sucked on vape pens, and lined up for their turn at the dabbing bar (dabbing, a newly popularized way to consume marijuana, involves inhaling heated cannabis concentrates). It’s a fitting way to celebrate the 10th birthday of the country’s biggest dispensary.

An uncertain political environment down south coupled with international ambitions means Canadian-based Licensed Producers are still the best bet for international investors looking for exposure to marijuana stocks, says M Partners analyst Mason Brown. 

Yesterday, Canopy Growth Corp. (TSX:CGC) announced it would acquire German-based pharmaceutical distributor MedCann. 

“Germans need access to high-quality cannabis and Tweed’s products are proving to be up to the very strict standards set by the federal government,” said Medcann founder Dr. P. Debs. “Working together as one team will allow Canopy Growth through Tweed, Tweed Farms, and future production sites to supply the unmet demand that has been building over the past decade.”

Who can buy and sell pot, where it will be sold, and who gets the profits, all up in the air.

The federal task force on marijuana regulation and legalization hands over its final report to the government today, moving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's promise to legalize marijuana one step closer to completion.

The nine members of the task force held roundtables with experts across the country, visited two U.S. states where pot is already legal and got advice from about 28,000 Canadians through online consultations. 

It's expected to take days if not weeks for the government to publicly release the panel's report. When it does, here are some big outstanding questions to watch for.

Pharmaceutical executive Parker Rudderham wants to tap local farms in effort to expand production.

A Cape Breton pharmaceutical executive is urging local farmers to take a chance on a new crop as the first run of his new company's hemp seed oil hits the shelves of European stores.

Highland Hemp Manufacturing and Exports produced 22,000 bottles of cold-pressed oil that was grown, processed and bottled on Cape Breton. The nutty flavoured product contains Omega-3 and Omega-6 oils and is intended for food, such as salads.

"The market for hemp is a huge market — and we got to get into this whole hog," said CEO Parker Rudderham, who is also president of Pharmacy Wholesale Services Inc.

With Cambodia’s traditional cash crops struggling to compete in global supply chains, the Kingdom could carve out a lucrative niche in commercial cannabis harvesting and exports – provided it acts fast to take advantage of the falling legal barriers, a Cambodia-based American innovator has argued.

Jim Plamondon, a former technical evangelist for Microsoft, said cannabis, the flowering plant that produces marijuana, was a potential goldmine for the Kingdom’s agricultural sector, which employs two-thirds of the country’s workforce.

He said US elections earlier this month were a tipping point, with more than half of the 50 US states having now legalised marijuana for medical use, such as treatment of glaucoma, and seven states legalising it for recreational use.

What started as a curiosity in Colorado and Washington state in 2012 could have gained the momentum of a juggernaut: marijuana legalization. Now with California and other states passing initiatives to fully legalize recreational marijuana use in November 2016, a new multi-billion-dollar industry could be in the offing. Inventors are already at work on new methods of delivering THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) in stronger and safer doses. And the cultivation sector remains one major area of novel, non-obvious innovation. But with cannabis still on the federal DEA Schedule I of controlled substances what can these idea people do to protect their intellectual property?