The panel charged with putting the state’s new medical marijuana law in effect has come up with some rules for sites where marijuana would be grown in Ohio.

The number of proposed growing sites has upset activists who’ve had questions about the new law.  

Limited growing sites and other rules

The Ohio Department of Commerce’s proposals would limit the number of marijuana growing sites to 18. The licenses and fees for the 12 larger sites would be $200,000 each; those for the six smaller sites would be $20,000 each.

'Apparently they want to shut out the Ma and Pa shops.'

In California, the city of Oakland was the first to regulate and tax medical marijuana dispensaries. Now, some city leaders see the industry's profits and are proposing to take a bigger piece of the action. The Oakland City Council is voting later this month on a pot profit-taking plan.

Harborside Health Center in Oakland is the largest medical marijuana dispensary in the nation.

Its executive director, Steve DeAngelo, says his dispensary brings in about $30 million in annual revenues.

"We've created over a 150 well-paying jobs and we're the second largest retail taxpayer in the city," he says.

DeAngelo says Harborside pays about $1.5 million in taxes every year.

A burgeoning cannabis industry could bring thousands of new jobs to California, a new report from the Marijuana Policy Group estimates.

The report, “The Economic Impact of Marijuana Legalization in Colorado,” uses a “Marijuana Impact Model” to measure the economic impacts of legalizing weed — and uses Colorado as proof. The group found that 18,005 jobs were created in the state because of legalization. 

If the same proportion holds in California, at least 130,432 jobs could be created if Proposition 64 is approved by voters. The situation isn’t directly comparable because, unlike Colorado, the Golden State had legal medical marijuana before.

Kristina Simpson says she feels lucky to have landed a job at a Bank Street store where the staff feel like family and customers are grateful for the products she sells.

But when she steps behind the counter at Weeds Glass & Gifts each morning, she brushes aside a nagging fear: Will this be the day police arrive to arrest her for drug trafficking?

It’s an occupational hazard for employees at the city’s 17 illegal marijuana dispensaries.

These days there’s more than the sweet smell of cannabis wafting through the air at the pot shops. There’s chatter about whether Ottawa police will raid the dispensaries, and if so, which ones.

A closer look at the changing country.

Molson Coors says it is looking to Colorado for insight on the possible effects the legalization of marijuana in Canada could have on its beer sales.

Stewart Glendinning, CEO of Molson Coors International, was asked by an analyst Tuesday during the company's quarterly earnings conference call for his opinion on the potential impact the legalization of marijuana could have on Canada's beer sector.

"Cannabis is something we are thinking very carefully about, not only as a business but also as an industry," Glendinning, who was the former head of Molson Coors' operations in Canada, said in response.

"There's just a lot we don't know at the moment. ... It's steady as she goes because of the lack of clarity about the deployment of the drug itself."

GLOBAL drug and research giants are eyeing Victoria to grow cannabis crops on the back of federal laws allowing for medicinal marijuana products to be developed.

The companies hope to be granted licenses in the coming months and begin growing cannabis within a year.

The law changes, which come into effect tomorrow, allow for fit and proper applicants to cultivate and produce cannabis as medicine or for research.

It follows a move earlier this year in Victoria, where the law was also changed to allow for patients in “exceptional circumstances” to get access to locally produced medicinal marijuana as long as they are overseen by doctors.

Cannabis connoisseurs won’t be the only ones rejoicing if voters legalize recreational marijuana this election. Expect Silicon Valley’s burgeoning class of pot entrepreneurs to join the party.

Startups are cropping up throughout the Bay Area that put a signature Valley spin on the age-old practice of selling marijuana, offering sleek on-demand delivery apps for users and high-tech software for growers and dispensaries. The business models are risky — marijuana is illegal under federal law and stigma around the drug prevents cannabis startups from scoring funding from many major investors. But with recent polls suggesting Californians are poised to expand marijuana consumption beyond medical use, experts expect cash to pour into the industry.

Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX: CGC) ("Canopy Growth" or "the Corporation") has acquired ownership of Vert Médical, a Quebec-based ACMPR applicant.

Canopy Growth has also acquired the lease and the right to acquire 90 acres of land and a 7,000 square foot indoor growing and office facility located in Saint-Lucien, Quebec. The Canopy Growth team will apply its documented and compliant standard operating procedures to pursue completion of the ACMPR license application.  

Non-profit societies active in Vancouver’s multi-million-dollar retail pot sector have reported a wide range of annual revenues, from under $80,000 for one society to more than $3.7 million for another, with those totals almost matched by substantial expenses, according to financial statements obtained by The Vancouver Sun.

At the higher end of reported revenues, the Vancouver Dispensary Society, which has two locations, saw revenues between $3.3 million and $3.7 million over each of the last four years.