"…I have long learned that even the most benign products like water do need certification because of the complexities of modern mass production. Second, in a generation that is seeking to ingest everything kosher, why not offer the kosher certification, especially if the manufacturer seeks and desires the kosher certification as a marketing tool? …I wonder whether those whose knee-jerk reaction is to mock the kosher certification of a product that on the surface may not require kosher certification are in fact doing a disservice to kosher as a whole.…"

Above: Menachem Lubinsky

Selling marijuana at SAQ not 'best place to sell cannabis,' says Santé Cannabis co-founder

Montreal is abuzz with the federal Liberal government's electoral promise to legalize marijuana.

So CBC Montreal's Daybreak is rolling out a week-long series it's calling Montreal 420, which will take a look at the challenges and opportunities facing the city if the federal government legalizes marijuana for recreational use.To launch the series, Daybreak spoke to Adam Greenblatt, co-founder and executive director of Santé Cannabis, Quebec's first medical marijuana clinic, and asked him what he thought about the future of marijuana in Quebec.

Here are key excerpts of that interview with Greenblatt:

British Columbia stands to lose a $2 billion market if legal marijuana production space shifts from BC to Ontario

By Aaron Bockner

Located about a block away from the Colorado State Capitol Building in Denver is the legal marijuana dispensary Good Chemistry. 

By Steve Brown

DENVER, Colo. There is a distinct possibility that legalized recreational marijuana could soon arise as a new industry in Massachusetts. And with an expected ballot question on the horizon, some state lawmakers are taking new measures to help the body prepare for such a change.

Manhattan's first and only medical marijuana dispensary is like a fortress. To enter the building, located on 14th Street near the 3rd Avenue subway station, patients have to pass through two security systems before they even encounter another human. First, they flash their medical marijuana card in front of a camera. If everything looks in order, the first set of doors opens to a vestibule and then closes behind them. There, they hold their cards under an electronic scanner. If there's a problem, guards — many of them ex-cops — will escort them from the premises.

Fort Collins' budding marijuana industry started the year with two new retail stores.

Kind Care of Colorado and Natural Alternatives for Health both recently expanded beyond medical marijuana. The stores bring the number of retail pot shops in Fort Collins to eight.

The number of licensed marijuana retailers operating in the city doubled during the second half of 2015.

Natural Alternatives started selling marijuana for recreational use on Dec. 29 after submitting an application for a retail license in May. The company hopes an expansion of its 1,500-square-foot growing facility will follow.

BOSTON, Jan. 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- GW Pharmaceuticals plc ("GW Pharma" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:  GWPH) has dropped precipitously in early trading.  It was down as much as 10% after a Sunday Times report referred to weakness in the Company's accounting practices.  GW Pharma had stated in its annual report that it "had a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting for the year ended September 30, 2015."

The Company further stated that its:

Marijuana legalization is rapidly gaining popularity around America and there are several predictions that 2016 will be a groundbreaking year. In particular, the themes that will dominate in 2016 involve the ever-growing marijuana business industry and research that answers people’s concerns about marijuana’s effects on the brain.

Although marijuana legalization has traditionally been advocated by Cheech-and-Chong types, 2015 proved that marijuana legalization is an issue that is looked at as a business equation to many of those controlling the current legal marijuana industry.

Your brand is the public face of your business, but when's the last time you gave it a makeover?

Branding is one of the most important aspects of your business, regardless of your size or sector. A brand is a set of perceptions that represent a business, product or service in a customer's mind - the essence of what will be delivered or experienced if they choose to spend their dollars with you. Brands help consumers navigate choices in the market. A well-defined and well-managed brand will generate awareness of your business and, ultimately, sales.

1.  Who are you?

As Ottawa prepares to legalize recreational marijuana, the 27 companies licensed to grow and sell medical pot in Canada are getting ready to cash in.

Ontario grower Tweed is among those planning to expand. The company grows about one-quarter of all medical marijuana sold in Canada, on the site of a former chocolate factory in Smiths Falls, Ont.

“This facility is ready to expand to meet a growing market,” President Mark Zekulin told CTV’s Richard Madan, while offering a tour of the facility Friday.

Zekulin said he expects Canada to take “a slower, more prudent approach” than the U.S. state of Colorado, which legalized the drug in 2012 and immediately allowed it to be sold in many retail locations.