Medical cannabis legalization has been sweeping throughout countries worldwide as many look for alternatives to traditionally prescribed treatments and medications. Before the modern era, cannabis was a popular herbal medicinal treatment in Chinese, Indian, Egyptian, and Islamic cultures. However, under international regulations, cannabis was deemed illegal nearly a century ago because of the psychoactive properties stemming from the marijuana derivative of the plant. However, despite regulatory laws, many countries have since decided to move forward and legalize medical cannabis due to its therapeutic benefits. Countries such as Australia, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the U.K, and parts of the U.S. have all adopted medicinal cannabis legislation.

University of B.C. researchers say Canada’s impaired driving laws may be too strict when it comes to low levels of THC.

The UBC study, published in the journal Addiction, found that THC levels less than five nanograms/ml of blood do not lead to an increased risk of causing car crashes in most drivers.

Canadian drug-impaired driving laws penalize drivers found to have blood THC levels of between two to five nanograms/ml with fines.

Dr. Jeffrey Brubacher, associate professor in the department of emergency medicine at UBC and lead researcher on the five-year study said in an interview Thursday that he would recommend Canada’s laws be changed to not penalize someone with under five nanograms/ml in their blood.

In case you haven't been paying attention, legal cannabis is a big-dollar business model. Having generated $12.2 billion in global (legal) sales in 2018, according to figures from Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics, the worldwide weed industry could make a run at $50 billion, or perhaps $75 billion, in annual sales by the time 2029-2030 rolls around, based on various Wall Street estimates.

Quebec's provincially operated cannabis shops made $71 million in sales in their first year and sold the most cannabis in the country in terms of dollars and volume, but they still posted a $4.9-million loss to be covered by the provincial government.

The provincial cannabis corporation -- known as the SQDC -- said in a statement that the provincial government revenues from consumption and excise taxes totalled about $21.7 million between June 12, 2018 and March 30.

The first stores in the Quebec network opened on Oct. 17, the day recreational marijuana became legal in the country.

However, the stores had to reduce opening hours, plagued by supply challenges faced by all provinces no matter what business model they were employing.

THC Global’s (ASX: THC) wholly-owned subsidiary Canndeo has achieved a major milestone by securing a manufacturing licence to produce cannabis extracts and tinctures in Australia.

The Australian Office of Drug Control granted the licence to Canndeo, which now completes THC’s vertical integration strategy to cultivate its own cannabis strains, harvest and process the material to produce its own cannabis-based products for Australian and international markets.

“We are very pleased to be granted a manufacture licence, which now completes our ‘farm to pharma’ model,” THC chairman Steven Xu said.

Marijuana has been shown to help ease pain and a few other health problems, yet two-thirds of U.S. states have decided pot should be legal to treat many other conditions with little scientific backing.

At least 1.4 million Americans are using marijuana for their health, according to an Associated Press analysis of states that track medical marijuana patients.

The number of medical marijuana cardholders more than tripled in the last five years as more states jumped on the bandwagon. The analysis is based on data from 26 states and the District of Columbia. The total climbs to 2.6 million patients if California, Washington and Maine are included, the AP estimates.

Green Growth Brands Inc. has signed a deal to open more than 70 new CBD stores at Brookfield Properties' shopping centres throughout the United States.

The Ohio-based cannabis company says these stores will sell CBD-infused personal care products under its existing Seventh Sense banner and under a new brand called Green Lily.

The chief executive of Brookfield Properties' retail group, Sandeep Mathrani, says it is the company's job to bring in retail offerings that consumers desire, and this includes Green Growth's CBD products.

Green Growth currently has seven shops within Brookfield Properties' portfolio.

Cannabidiol or CBD is a non-intoxicating compound which can be derived from cannabis or hemp and has been touted for its health benefits.

Western University researchers are trying to set the record straight about how marijuana may affect fertility, rounding up the latest research findings in a podcast episode and article for the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

“The general public’s knowledge about the effects of marijuana on fertility is limited.

This is equally true of health care providers’ knowledge,” said Sara Ilnitsky, a reproductive endocrinology and infertility fellow at Western’s Schulich school of medicine and dentistry.

She also practises at London Health Sciences Centre’s fertility clinic.

When he decided to take up farming part-time six years ago, Roy Renneberg (Welder ’90) did a very Alberta thing and planted hay.

Still employed in the construction industry, the native of Cudworth, Sask. grew up on a farm and hay seemed like a comfortable choice. But when Ottawa announced plans to legalize cannabis and update rules around industrial hemp, its non-stoner sister plant, a seed of inspiration was planted.

Hemp was an unknown, but after doing some research Renneberg was intrigued with the prospect of a crop that could produce revenue from every part of the plant – seeds, flowers, leaves and stalks.

“I thought, this could get very interesting and that’s where we went with it,” he says.

With medical cannabis usage now legal across Canada and in 33 US states, licensed producers have been engaging in lab work, clinical trials, and scientific studies to determine the specific uses for cannabis in the medical field. 

Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX: WEED; NYSE: CGC), through the company’s medical division Spectrum Therapeutics, today outlined a two year research plan to find new uses for cannabis and new ways to market products towards specific ailments.