Imagine a marijuana grow-op in a greenhouse the size of ten Canadian football fields.

That’s what Vancouver-based Aurora Cannabis Inc. is aiming to build in central Alberta, a 600,000-sq.-ft. facility with the capacity to produce up to an estimated 70,000 kg. of cannabis once it begins production, expected by the summer of 2018.

It could become the country’s largest producer, though Ontario-based Aphria Inc. recently bought a swath of land capable of holding a million sq.-ft. of production space, for $6.5 million.

Aurora, currently Alberta’s only licensed producer of medical marijuana, already operates a sprawling 55,200 sq.-ft. facility in Cremona, northwest of Calgary.

High Society: Pardons for nonviolent marijuana offenders in states where weed is legal are becoming part of the debate as more states consider legalizing cannabis.  

Twenty years ago, Rico Garcia was 21 when he got caught up in a marijuana sting in Colorado with a friend who wanted to buy some weed. The seller turned out to be a police informant, and Garcia and his friend were arrested.

“The police came and arrested us and said we were selling weed,” says Garcia, now a 41-year-old marijuana advocate who runs Cannabis Alliance for Regulation and Education. “My friend said it was his, but … under Colorado law at the time, 8 ounces was possession with intent and I got a felony.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's promise to legalize marijuana has grabbed the attention of many pot entrepreneurs — including Whoopi Goldberg, who's eyeing Canada as a potential market for her line of cannabis-infused menstrual pain products.

Goldberg's product line, which includes a THC tincture, a topical body rub, medicated bath salts and cannabis-infused cacao, is available only to medical marijuana patients in California.

But the American comedian and talk-show host said she'd like to change that.

"It's going to take a minute," Goldberg said Monday in an interview, noting that making the products available north of the border will require overcoming a number of regulatory hurdles.

"You have to go through lots of different conversations."

Companies in Washington and Colorado are seeing green thanks to the legalization of marijuana. Now Canada is on the onset of a marijuana boom. Bloomberg's Michael Bancroft visited one pot producer blending old-fashioned farming techniques with big data to create new strains to treat patients.

The Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) comes into effect today. In essence this allows Canadian medical marijuana patients to grow their own or select an independent grower to grow for them, rather than by purchasing through large scale licensed producers. This is the federal government’s response to the Supreme Court ruling that made affordable access to cannabis medicine a human right.

Locally owned IPAmediagroup announced the official launch date of www.420fundme.com, a highly anticipated platform facilitating crowdfunding for cannabis related projects. Site launch is set for September 15th and will enable individuals, groups and businesses to fund a project or venture by raising monetary contributions from individuals online.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise to legalize marijuana has grabbed the attention of many pot entrepreneurs — including Whoopi Goldberg, who’s eyeing Canada as a potential market for her line of cannabis-infused menstrual pain products.

Goldberg’s product line, which includes a THC tincture, a topical body rub, medicated bath salts and cannabis-infused cacao, is available only to medical marijuana patients in California.

But the American comedian and talk-show host said she’d like to change that.

“It’s going to take a minute,” Goldberg said Monday in an interview, noting that making the products available north of the border will require overcoming a number of regulatory hurdles.

“You have to go through lots of different conversations.”

In fields across Italy, the seeds of fundamental change are being sown—and they quite literally are seeds, hemp seeds.

Individually, a hemp grower has little power, but as part of a local hemp-growing collective, that power increases exponentially. Similarly, a sole collective has little influence, but a network of communities working together can garner power on a much greater and more meaningful level.

What started out as a service that delivered monthly packages of skin-, body-, and hair-care samples to beauty product enthusiasts has become a universal business model. Want a shave kit? There’s a box for that. Need vitamins, chia seeds, and yoga gear? There’s a box for that. What about dog treats and toys? There’s a box for that too. Now, the box subscription model has taken a leap forward to join the medical marijuana gold rush in California. A new company called Au Box has introduced a monthly subscription service, available only in San Francisco at the moment, where clients with a medical marijuana license can sign up and receive a special box of cannabis products to their doorstep each month.

New York is considering expanding its 9-month-old medical marijuana program by adding more growers and allowing home delivery.

The state Health Department has issued a report recommending ways the program can be improved. Some of those recommendations include: