On Wednesday, the province stressed that medical marijuana was heavily regulated.

CityNews put that claim to the test, sending someone with a hidden camera into half a dozen medical marijuana dispensaries in Toronto to find out just how hard, or easy, it was to score weed.

Not to be outdone by much larger national retailers, Denver’s cannabis merchants are rolling out Black Friday deals of their own.

“We’re trying to mimic what the big-box stores do on Black Friday,” said Ryan Fox, CEO of the Kindman brand of cannabis and founder of Denver’s Grass Station stores. “Last year we had a top-10 sales day at our LoHi location – it was 50 percent more than the store would see on an average Friday.”

Entrepreneurs want to build medical marijuana dispensaries pretty much everywhere in Maryland.

The state’s medical marijuana commission on Tuesday released a geographic breakdown of the 811 dispensary applications it received earlier this month – an uptick from preliminary numbers.

Commission officials also said they received more applications to grow marijuana than previously reported - 146 in all for the 15 available licenses. Another 124 applied for an unlimited number of licenses to process marijuana into something the dispensaries can sell, also more than previously reported.

Robert Gaither is a 39-year-old former salesman, a teddy bear of a guy with a full brown beard that makes him look a little like a mountain man. He does in fact live in the mountains — Lake Arrowhead, to be exact — but right now he is standing in an exhibit space at a downtown San Francisco hotel, showing off his wares at a conference exploring the intersection of cannabis, tech, media and finance.

Gaither is selling an expensive cannabis extraction system created by his wife, Brenna, a biochemist.

They decided at the last minute to attend this gathering, the New West Summit, last Friday and Saturday. And they are glad they came. Over the course of the two days, their booth will generate more than $250,000 in orders.

As a consequence of the rapid expansion of the cannabis industry, competitive pressures have risen. Today, entry barriers faced by new companies interested in the cannabis industry are falling, but there is no guarantee that this will continue into the future. And current cannabis industry participants know it.

Take, for instance, the recently failed industry-sponsored legalization initiative in Ohio earlier this month, which was driven by the backlash from pro-legalization supporters who voted against the issue because the of bill’s stipulations allowing the development of a state-protected oligopoly of 10 companies as opposed to a more open cannabis market.

Utilities should view legalization as an opportunity, not a threat.

Maybe you’re sitting on the couch right now, reading this as you light up a joint. And maybe you’re in one of the states where what you’re doing is no longer a crime, so you’re feeling pretty good because your leisure activity will no longer lure the police into your home.

Sorry to harsh your buzz, but that marijuana, legal or not, probably sucked up a lot of electricity during its cultivation. One study estimates that it takes as much energy to produce 18 pints of beer as it does just one joint (and that doesn't factor in the energy used to make the three Sara Lee cheesecakes thawing in the fridge for when the munchies kick in). That “green” you’re smoking isn’t all that green, after all.

The CEO of one of Canada's licensed medical cannabis producers says a delivery-by-courier model would be a good first step as the new Liberal government looks to allow recreational access to the drug.

"I think there may be an interim opportunity for distribution to happen quickly, to show a milestone of achieving things, because milestones in politics seem to be important," Bruce Linton, CEO and chairman of Canopy Growth Corp. (TSXV:CGC) said during the company's second-quarter earnings call Thursday.

"If the feds wish to have limited recreational access by way of direct courier, and then evolve it into presentation into LCBOs or SAQs or wherever, that could be something that could happen, and certainly we are actively, actively advocating that kind of first step."

Just a decade ago, marijuana in the popular imagination was largely associated with cheesy stoner iconography — pot leaf decals, tie-dye and paisley patterns — and its packaging was limited to discreet plastic baggies. But now, with medical marijuana legal in 23 states and recreational marijuana legal in four, top designers are stepping up to rebrand the plant.

KIRKLAND LAKE - DelShen Therapeutics is developing a state of the art pharmaceutical grade medical marijuana operation in a repurposed government built forestry growing operation near Kirkland Lake.

The Wahgoshig First Nation (WFN) and DelShen Therapeutics will make the announcement Friday.

Several representatives will make remarks about the economic opportunity from Chief David Babin the Chief of Wahgoshig First Nation; Charlie Angus Member of Parliament for Timmins—James Bay; Tony Antoniazzi Mayor of Kirkland Lake; and DelShen Therapeutics executives and Board representatives.

The Wahgoshig First Nation is nestled in a village near Matheson Ontario. The reserve

encompasses 19,239 acres; the north end meets the south shore of Abitibi Lake, which divides

The state doesn't yet require marijuana businesses to conduct pesticide testing, leading to a "buyer beware" market.

Colorado's agricultural agencies are in panic mode after several independent studies found dangerous levels of pesticides in marijuana products.