The national statistics offices says legalizing cannabis doesn't seem to have much changed how many people use the drug.

Figures released this morning from Statistics Canada show about 4.6 million people, or 15 per cent of Canadians over age 15, reported using cannabis in the last three months.

Statistics Canada says that nearly one in five Canadians, or 19 per cent, believe they will use cannabis in the next three months -- a higher figure than those who reported current use.

Nearly half of Canadian who reported using cannabis said they did so for non-medical reasons, while one-quarter say they used it for medicinal purposes.

A cannabis producer that has a facility in Delta announced it entered a major supply deal with Shoppers Drug Mart.

Zenabis will be selling dried cannabis and oils through Shoppers’ online platform.

Shoppers will purchase dried marijuana and cannabis oil (once Zenabis receives its licence to sell oil) from the Zenabis medical branded product line, subject to regulations. Shoppers also has the right to purchase all future products available as laws and regulations allow. Zenabis branded medical cannabis products will then be sold online at cannabis.shoppersdrugmart.ca, as regulations do not allow the sale of medical cannabis in retail pharmacies.

Health Canada has suspended the sales license of an embattled Winnipeg-based cannabis producer after it was found to be non-compliant with the federal Cannabis Act.

The country’s federal health arm revoked the license on Monday following a review of recent activities with Bonify Medical Cannabis “to protect public health and public safety.”

In December, Bonify fired its three senior managers and suspended a board member after somehow obtaining 200 kilograms of unauthorized pot. Two of its strains — Cherry Lime Pie and Warlock Kush (both 3.5-gram varieties) — were found to be contaminated.

An internal investigation into Bonify also found that some of its employees were pressured to remain silent after voicing their concerns over the product.

It was Feb. 6, 1969 and the news story noted that more than a quarter of Calgary high school students had “smoked up,” as the kids used to say.

One of the experts also noted that “business men in the city have been caught smoking marijuana, but they were not arrested.”

While these respectable types didn’t suffer a penalty, “the guy with the hair that’s a bit longer” was more likely to get arrested, the expert said, adding 15 University of Calgary students had been arrested on pot-related charges in the previous 10 days. That expert, a U of C professor named L.E. Acker, also added he had tried pot — and liked it.

Hemp was recently pushed into the spotlight after Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell advocated for its legalization. McConnell's support ultimately led hemp to be legalized in the recent passing of the U.S. Farm Bill. It was legalized mainly because it contains less than 0.3% THC and is considered the non-psychoactive cousin of cannabis. Essentially, hemp does not give the consumer euphoric effects but offers therapeutic and relaxing effects similar to marijuana. With the passage of the Farm Bill, it is projected that hemp will be a major growth driver for the overall cannabis industry. According to data compiled by MarketsandMarkets research, the global cannabis market is expected to grow from USD 10.3 Billion in 2018 to USD 39.4 Billion by 2023.

Canada’s minister for the Cannabis Act said Wednesday there is plenty of pot to go around. According to an official report, supply increased for the third consecutive month and represented far more inventory than the country is projected to sell in the coming months.

“Building on our considerable experience with medical cannabis, and with 147 Health Canada licensed producers, the data is clear: there remains sufficient supply to meet and exceed existing demand,” read the report.

Users of medical marijuana products made by licensed producer Zenabis products will soon have another purchasing option.

As part of its growth strategy, Zenabis will supply Shoppers Drug Mart with dried cannabis buds and eventually cannabis oil and other products to sell online. 

Current pharmaceutical regulations prohibit pharmacies from selling medical cannabis in brick and mortar stores, but Zenabis chief revenue officer David Lluncor said the trust medical marijuana customers have in pharmacies means there will be plenty of demand for Shoppers' online offerings.

"From a medical perspective versus a recreational perspective I think medical customers are going to go to what they know and what they trust," Lluncor said.

With optimism returning to the stock markets and a growing sense that U.S. marijuana laws are headed for an overhaul, many of Canada's largest cannabis companies have seen their share price soar since the start of the year.

The Canadian Marijuana Index, which tracks 20 large, publicly-traded cannabis firms, was trading at 723.74 at 1 p.m. ET on Monday, just about 60 per cent higher than its closing level on Dec. 31, 2018. However, that is still below a peak of 858.19 that it hit last October, days before legalization.

From October to December of last year, the index lost about half its value amid a stock market rout. As a fledgling industry, cannabis tends to see larger fluctuations in stock prices than you would see in more established industries.

Chronic pain is the most common reason people give when they enrol in state-approved medical marijuana programs.

That’s followed by stiffness from multiple sclerosis and chemotherapy-related nausea, according to an analysis of 15 states published Monday in the journal Health Affairs.

The study didn’t measure whether marijuana actually helped anyone with their problems, but the patients’ reasons match up with what’s known about the science of marijuana and its chemical components.

“The majority of patients for whom we have data are using cannabis for reasons where the science is the strongest,” said lead author Kevin Boehnke of University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has now put itself in the middle of an interesting international situation. The organization is calling for whole-plant marijuana, as well as cannabis resin, to be removed from Schedule IV - the most restrictive classification of a 1961 drug convention signed by countries from around the world, according to Forbes.