Early results from a two-year Canadian study are shedding a light on how dangerous cannabis edibles can be if they end up in the hands of young children.

The study, which looked at incidents when a child under the age of 18 had experienced a serious or life-threatening event related to exposure to non-medical cannabis, found that 33 per cent of the cases in 2019 involved children being hospitalized after accidentally consuming cannabis edibles.

The results also showed that the number of children hospitalized due to severe reactions to cannabis exposure has doubled since 2018.

By the end of 2020, the legal cannabis industry is expected to surpass US$15 billion. But the money that weed generates on the illicit market far exceeds that amount.

Tracking exact figures is tricky because anonymous dealers and criminal networks aren’t exactly sharing sales data with the media. But estimates approximate the illicit market is more than four times the size of its legal market.

More specifically, New Frontier Data values the U.S. illicit. Per Statistics Canada, less than 30 per cent of Canadian cannabis users acquire their goods exclusively from licensed retailers.

One year after the Canadian government created a program to quickly and affordably clear cannabis possession charges from people’s criminal records, just 265 records have been cleared. 

For years, cannabis stocks were the greatest thing since sliced bread on Wall Street. The expectation of ongoing state-level legalization in the U.S., coupled with Canada becoming the first industrialized country in the modern era to give marijuana the green light, was forecast to send pot stock valuations into the heavens -- and for a period of time this is precisely what happened.

What’s the difference between stepping inside a neighborhood weed store and retail outlets designed to cater to the alcohol consumer?

Back when cannabis advocates were first successfully moving to legalize marijuana for recreational use at the state level, one of the most popular phrases used to describe what that might look like is “in a manner similar to alcohol.” The gist of the pitch was that upon the legalization of marijuana, there would be a taxed and regulated market put into place — same as the alcohol trade — that would allow adults 21 and older to buy cannabis products close to the same way they might purchase beer at a liquor store.

Statistics Canada reported that the Cannabis industry saw sales increase from $86 million to $186 million, an increase of 116 percent.

The Trudeau Cabinet moved forward with pandemic relief to marijuana dispensaries and dealers, despite the industry's growth from 2019-2020, according to Blacklock's Reporter.

The CEO of the Cannabis Council of Canada, George Smitherman, told Cabinet that while sales were strong, the industry was in the early stages of finding its legs.

"There is the potential for growth out there—billions for sure – but you have to remember we're dealing with 75 percent of companies that had no revenue two years ago."

It seems the latest corruption scandals in the cannabis industry could be just the tip of the iceberg.

On December 19, 2019, an undercover FBI agent attended a meeting with two Calexico city officials, Bruno Suarez-Soto and David Romero.

He presented himself as a representative of investors seeking to open a cannabis dispensary in Calexico.

Cannabis tourism is not a new concept.

For many decades vacationers have flocked to cannabis hotspots like Amsterdam, Jamaica, Thailand, and other international destinations often associated with cannabis, albeit unregulated cannabis.

Options for legal cannabis tourism have increased in recent years with the spread of cannabis reform.