A new three-year study to determine how cannabis is used in Canada’s territories has been launched by a group of university researchers and health experts, with funding from Health Canada.

The study will look at local views and behaviours towards the drug. Behind it are David Hammond, a research chair in the School of Public Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo, and Erin Hobin, a senior scientist at Public Health Ontario.

Hammond has been studying cannabis use and legalization for over a decade and said he’s often asked by international researchers about cannabis use in Canada but hasn’t been able to offer a clear picture of how it is used in the territories.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in sales of all kinds of vices, but marijuana purchases increased more than others, a new study suggests.

Researchers from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada gathered sales data of marijuana and alcohol in their city to find if there was a pandemic-related increase in drug sales.

They found that, at the start of the pandemic, there was a surge in sales as many stockpiled marijuana and alcohol. 

Illegal trade linked 'several' homicides, Waterloo regional police Chief Bryan Larkin says

There may be dozens of cannabis stores authorized in Waterloo region, but police say that doesn't mean the illegal cannabis market has gone away. 

In fact, Waterloo regional police Chief Bryan Larkin recently told the police services board that cannabis legalization has had "unintended consequences" — such that the service now has a whole team dedicated to investigating illegal, online cannabis sales. 

By all appearances, the cannabis industry is absolutely booming in Ontario, with new storefronts popping up around cities like Toronto seemingly every day.

With multiple pot shops per block in some neighbourhoods, many are wondering if parts of the province are facing over-saturation at this point, with the government marking the opening of our 1000th authorized weed retailer at the end of August.

By that time, Toronto alone already had more than 250 cannabis stores and counting, comprising more than a quarter of Ontario's total.

As anyone who's walked a downtown thoroughfare knows, there are indeed a shocking number of dispensaries, many within very close proximity to one another, begging the question of how some of them are profitable.

Cannabis advocate Steven Stairs suggested that added regulation could hurt sick Canadians who have a doctor’s note to grow personal cannabis.

Drugs seized in the raids included GHB, cocaine, crack cocaine, cannabis candy, ecstasy, crystal meth, methamphetamine tablets, amphetamine tablets and other illicit drugs.

The seizure of more than a ton of weed is now under investigation by Homeland Security Investigations in the U.S.

Officers found 2,302 packages of vacuum-sealed marijuana. / PHOTO BY U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION

Criminal organizations are still focused on trying to get illegal drugs through border points, as evidenced by a recent seizure of 2,554 pounds (about 1,160 kilograms) of cannabis in Buffalo, N.Y.

Half of Canadian cannabis users report buying from black market some of the time: Jason Busse

Three years after recreational cannabis was legalized in Canada, a researcher says the change spawned "partial successes" — but information on marijuana's impact on health is still needed.

"Data's still out on the final conclusions about this large social experiment," said Jason Busse, associate director of the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research at McMaster University in Hamilton.

The federal government legalized recreational marijuana in October 2018, opening the door to a lucrative market for the regulation and sale of cannabis while reducing the impact of black market sales.

Advocates have been pushing the prime minister to act for months.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is open to the idea of legalizing psilocybin for therapeutic purposes in the UK, according to a recent conversation. By downgrading psilocybin’s classification to Schedule 2, the mushroom would be available for medical use and research.

BBC News reports that Tory MP (Member of Parliament) Crispin Blunt urged Johnson to review the country’s law to allow more research into the psilocybin’s potential as a therapeutic during Prime Minister’s Questions. Blunt said it has “exciting potential” for the treatment of mental health conditions such as depression, trauma and addiction.