Ottawa has given a commercial medical marijuana producer the first licence to sell cannabis oils through the federally regulated mail-order system, six months after a Supreme Court ruling forced Health Canada to allow access to edible forms of the drug.

Peace Naturals Project Inc., based in Stayner, Ont., announced Monday that it is the first commercial producer to be approved to sell cannabis oil. Fourteen other commercial producers are listed on Health Canada’s website as being permitted to produce cannabis oil, but they are still awaiting bureaucratic approval to sell it. Currently, 20 producers are licensed to sell dried marijuana.

As a part of our special feature series highlighting some of the more promising companies operating in the cannabis industry. Part of that is digging into some of the strongest public companies currently out there, so we've taken a closer look at the operators in the cultivation and retail sector with an eye towards what might make for the strongest potential investment. Granted, some of these are micro-cap companies in the very early stages of their growth story and facing a relatively uncertain future in terms of their regulatory environment, so there is clearly a lot of risk associated with investing at this stage.

Jack Hynes, owner of On The Rocks in Fort St. John, believes his store would benefit if the sale and distribution of legal weed was handled through the existing liquor distribution and retail system.   Photo By William Stodalka

If new marijuana legislation goes the way some local liquor storeowners are hoping, you could soon pick up some bud with your Bud.

Many local liquor storeowners say they would support a plan that would allow them to sell marijuana in their stores, should the federal government move forward with legalizing the drug, as it signaled in its recent throne speech.

With recreational marijuana sweeping the nation, startups and investors are finding new ways to cash in on the green revolution.

California’s Silicon Valley is leading the way with tech companies fighting to alter the public’s perception of the marijuana smoker from the ’60’s Rasta stoner to a sleek millennial-inspired user.

This isn’t your parent’s marijuana and the growing industry is ripe for exploitation and many new startups are hoping to take advantage of the relatively open playing field.

Once a back alley operation, the legal marijuana industry has blossomed into a $3 billion powerhouse complete with its political special interest group.

By Ricardo Baca

The marijuana industry has a pesticide problem.

A couple of recent developments have focused attention on the newly legal marijuana industry in several states and the potential for those new businesses to have an enormous impact on the shape of legal marijuana as it is rolled out in several new states. There is a lot of money involved in the industry, and money always plays a role in politics.

Money Has Always Been a Factor

DENVER, Dec. 7, 2015/ Weed Wire/– Canna Security America (CSA) (OTCBB: CSAX) the leading extensive security solutions company catering to companies in the certified marijuana industry, is delighted to announce that it has actually finished its merger and begun to trade as a public company.

Remember WWE star Val “Helloooooo, ladies!” Venis? Yeah, you do. He spent about a decade playing the role of a “former porn star” and making appearances in little more than a towel. He was also a big weed advocate during his final days with the company and, after leaving, said he’d never return to the WWE if they didn’t stop testing wrestlers for weed. If you somehow don’t remember him, we’ve included his first promo (NSFW alert!) in the clip above.

Hemp Inc (OTCMKTS:HEMP) recently made a parabolic move up after a bill that would make Industrial hemp legal in North Carolina was not vetoed by Governor Pat McCrory meaning it will now be passed into law. This was big news for HEMP which recently announced the purchase of a 70,000 square foot hemp processing plant and decortication line of equipment in Spring Hope, North Carolina.

HEMP has been trading on the bb’s and has been a great barometer of the pot sector in the past making several spectacular moves up both in early 2013 and again in 2014. Currently trading at the bottom of its range Investors are hoping for another breakout.