Period cramps got you down?

Are the usual over-the-counter medications doing nothing to help ease discomfort and pain? Is popping pain relievers like candy part of a regular, unwelcome routine meant to—please, please, please—deliver you from a foetal to upright position: Maybe cannabis suppositories offer a glimmer of hope.

If so, the option may prove attractive to both women and their doctors, some who are already prescribing a combination of CBD—known to have anti-inflammatory properties—and THC to ease menstrual pain.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB.TO 3.67%) said it is expanding the size of a marijuana production facility currently under construction in Medicine Hat, Alta., by 33 per cent. The Edmonton-based pot producer said in a release Wednesday that it is increasing its high-tech Aurora Sun facility from an original plan of 1.2 million square feet to 1.62 million square feet, as the firm seeks to ramp up production amid growing global demand for medical cannabis.

Aurora said it expects the Medicine Hat facility will produce more than 230,000 kilograms of cannabis per year.

B.C. rang up $19.1 million in legal cannabis sales in 2018, just seven per cent of Canada’s overall marijuana revenue, even though the province makes up nearly 14 per cent of the national population, according to an analysis by Arcview Market Research.

In Alberta, however, legal sales — both recreational and medical — added up to $216.5 million, about 28 per cent of the nation’s overall legal revenue although that province is only 12 per cent of Canada’s population.

CannTrust Holdings Inc. (“CannTrust” or the “Company”, TSX: TRST,NYSE: CTST) is pleased to announce that it has launched three new cannabis extract formulations to meet the growing demand for oil-based products. The new formulations are designed to fill previously unmet needs within the Canadian medical market, identified through market research and the Company’s long-standing relationships with thousands of medical cannabis patients and their healthcare practitioners.

CannTrust’s three new product formulations are:

More than 3 million people will be diagnosed with arthritis in the United States in 2019 alone, and an estimated 54 million are already living with the disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Inflammation in the joints leads to pain, reduced range of motion, and stiffness in arthritic individuals, most of whom are older than 65. Prescription pain medication, over-the-counter pain relievers, and joint replacement surgeries are among the most common treatments for arthritis.

Lucia, a Colombian girl, suffered severe epileptic seizures since adolescence. Although she visited many doctors and specialists, at 35 years of age she had not found anything that would help her treat the debilitating symptoms of her illness.

One day she was able to travel to Canada where a specialist recommended a brand of medicinal cannabis oil that, as soon as she tried, significantly mitigated her ailments. Her spasms were less violent and her triggers less frequent.

Upon returning to her home country, however, Lucia could not locate the medicine that had benefited her so much. Although she tried many cannabidiol presentations available on her local market, none gave her the same result she had experienced in Canada.

A recent court ruling in British Columbia, Canada that focused on the "material change" clause in homeowners insurance policies could have the potential to shed a spotlight on the incompatibility of such a position with new federal cannabis laws. According to the Globe and Mail, The decision of Vancouver Supreme Court Justice Margot Fleming in February 2019 could very well have far-reaching effects for all homeowners in Canada who grow even a single marijuana plant inside their home.

Two Canadian cannabis producers, Aurora Cannabis (TSX:ACB) and Aphria Inc. (TSX:APHA), have been awarded contracts by the German government to cultivate and distribute medical marijuana throughout the European country.

Both companies say the decision by Germany's Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices is provisional and subject to a mandatory 10-day waiting period, which allows unsuccessful bidders to submit a challenge before the final contract is signed.

If finalized, the cannabis produced by both Aurora and Aphria will supply the German medical marijuana market, which is the largest in Europe according to a recent report by market research firm Brightfield Group.

As more states make it legal to smoke marijuana, some government officials, researchers and others worry what that might mean for one of the country's biggest public health successes: curbing cigarette smoking.

Though there are notable differences in health research findings on tobacco and marijuana, the juxtaposition strikes some as jarring after generations of Americans have gotten the message that smoking endangers their health.

"We're trying to stop people from smoking all kinds of things. Why do you want to legalize marijuana?" a New York City councilman, Republican Peter Koo, asked at a recent city hearing about the state's potential legalization of so-called recreational pot use.

HEXO (NYSEMKT: HEXO) and Green Thumb Industries(NASDAQOTH: GTBIF) rank as two of the best-performing marijuana stocks so far this year. HEXO's share price has more than doubled in 2019, while Green Thumb is up more than 90%.

Of course, like the mutual fund disclosures state, past performance isn't necessarily indicative of future results. Which of these two hot marijuana stocks is the better pick now? Here's what you need to know to choose between HEXO and Green Thumb Industries.

The case for HEXO

If you had to summarize the argument for buying HEXO stock in three words, those words would probably be "Quebec" and "Molson Coors ."