The NSLC released its first quarter financial results today for April 1 to June 28, 2020, reporting a 6.8% increase in earnings.

“This was an unprecedented quarter for us,” said Greg Hughes, President & CEO. “We adjusted our business to continue to provide service to Nova Scotians during the pandemic and we’re happy we were able to keep our doors open.”

Sales overall were up 5.3 % to $184.2 million with an increase in both beverage alcohol and cannabis sales. Beverage alcohol sales were up 5 % to $166.8 million and cannabis sales were up 7.8 % to $17.3 million.

Don’t be duped by illicit cannabis companies.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) received over 60,000 consumer inquiries for the industry, with many trying to get details on trustworthy online retailers.

In April, the BC Bureau received several complaints regarding Canadian Hemp Co. and another called Hello Ganja.

Canadian Hemp Co. posed as an online cannabis retailer with a New Westminster address on its website, but many buyers never received their goods after purchasing them online, or received something they didn’t order.

After spending nearly $400,000 to build and prepare a new cannabis store in Brampton, Ont., Mirna Diab doesn't know if she and her family can wait until next August to get the paperwork needed to open its doors. 

"Put yourself in our situation," Diab, who led all construction and development of their HiBuzz cannabis store while her husband Charbel handles administrative duties, told BNN Bloomberg in a phone interview. "My husband can't sleep at night and we've spent our life's savings. Now that we've spent everything we have, [the provincial regulator] told us we need to be on the waiting list for almost a year. It's very frustrating." 

A Canadian truck driver faces charges in Detroit after border officials at the Fort Street Cargo Facility seized over 1,000 lbs of marijuana on Sunday.

The driver presented a manifest for steel wire destined for a distribution centre in Chicago, but Customs and Border Protection officers got suspicious and sent the truck to secondary inspection.

That’s when they found 1,031 lbs of marijuana hidden in five wooden crates.

“The Port of Detroit is proud to have prevented the exploitation of our borders and the introduction of illicit drugs into our communities,” said Port Director, Devin Chamberlain. “I am equally proud of our CBP Officers and Agriculture Specialists who remain vigilant in their efforts to protect the American people every day.”

It’s been nearly two years since Canada became the first G20 country to legalize cannabis for recreational purposes. However, the majority of customers are still getting their pot from the illicit market -- with a lot of ground left to cover.

In the fourth quarter of 2018, legal marijuana represented only 21 per cent of total consumption in Canada, despite weed becoming lawful on Oct. 17 of that year. Fast-forward to the first quarter of 2020 and cannabis is now a $2.2 billion retail industry, yet legal consumption is still just 46 per cent of the total, according to data from Statistics Canada.

The Hanover Police Service is issuing a warning to sticky-fingered, shovel-wielding types who are looking to steal personal pot plants from backyards in the community.

“If you are so inclined to prowl around at night & steal anything plan on a @norms1947 breakfast on us topped off with a court date in Walkerton,” Chief Christopher Knoll of the Hanover Police Service tweeted this week.

The tongue-in-cheek invite to Norm’s Restaurant — a local restaurant where, apparently, The Legend Lives — follows two recent incidents in which thieves made off with marijuana plants from backyards.

Hamilton’s legal cannabis market is going to get crowded in the coming months with retail applications pending across the city.

Forty-eight retail licence applications are being processed by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). Four of those potential stores are in the process of receiving public scrutiny, the other 44 have passed that stage and are undergoing review by the AGCO.

If all applications are granted, there will be 56 pot shops spread out through Hamilton, from Ancaster to Winona and Waterdown to Binbrook.

New locations are good news for customers in areas of the city that were shut out when the government was granting licences through the lottery system.

Kevin Vickers isn’t giving up on marijuana.

The manifest of a truck travelling into the U.S. from Canada was a little light on details, opting not to list the 1,114 pounds (505 kg) of weed the vehicle had onboard.

Despite the “oversight”, staff with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) examined the vehicle and managed to find the cannabis contained in vacuum-sealed packages hidden in cardboard boxes and loaded onto wooden pallets within the truck.