Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has spent $20,000 on campaigns to counter the negative health effects of cannabis legalization, particularly on youth — a drop in the bucket compared to other cities.

The federal government promised millions in education funding to go along with legalization, with commitments already worth $4.1M to organizations in the city of Toronto. 

None of that federal money has made its way to Ottawa, however. 

"We will be exploring provincial and federal funding opportunities," wrote OPH spokesperson Robyn Muzik in an email.

"We will be submitting our public health budget to the city and province in the new year," 

Marijuana, long snuck on to college and university campuses for use in bongs and joints, is now being grown legally at several academic institutions across the country.

Eight academic institutions have obtained licences from Health Canada to cultivate cannabis for scientific purposes, allowing them to closely study the drug that was legalized for recreational use in October.

Some received special licences a few months before legalization and will be moving to licences with fewer restrictions in the future. The University of Guelph is one of them. Max Jones, an assistant professor in the department of agriculture, received cannabis plants several weeks ago after the school was granted a license in September.

On October 17, 2018, Canada became the first G7 nation to fully legalize recreational cannabis. Cue the speculators. As a massive, formerly black market transforms into an above-board one, companies from around the globe in a range of disparate industries—agriculture, yes, but also tobacco, beer, software, and even fashion and design—aim to cash in.

But no one knows exactly how large this market will be. Both immediately and in the coming years, attitudes about marijuana in Canada inevitably will change. Meanwhile, the unknowns are impacting everything from share prices to government policies. As jurisdictions in the U.S. and around the world ponder changing their own cannabis laws, they’re watching to see how the numbers shake down in Canada.

Now that cannabis has been legalized in Canada, we need to shift our conversation from the theoretical to reality. At CAA South Central Ontario, what we're focused on, day in and day out, is how to keep our roads and road users safe.

We recently commissioned a study conducted by Ipsos that found Ontario drivers are concerned that the legalization of cannabis may impact their safety behind the wheel. Sixty-eight per cent believe there will be more cannabis-impaired drivers on the road following the legalization. In fact, the study revealed that 1.9 million Ontarians have driven under the influence of cannabis. Among current cannabis users, over half feel that they drive worse than a sober driver when under the influence of cannabis.

Seven per cent of Haligonians have purchased legal pot since Oct. 17 and another 20 per cent intend to soon, a new poll shows.

The survey, conducted by Corporate Research Associates as part of a quarterly look at the Atlantic region’s four largest cities, found that actual trends mostly matched expectations.

Last fall, results from a CRA poll suggested that 9 per cent of adult New Brunswickers and 10 per cent of adult Nova Scotians intended to buy marijuana from a legal vendor after the legalization date.

The latest poll, released Wednesday, found that that 10 per cent of Moncton and Fredericton residents, 9 per cent of Saint John residents, and 7 per cent of Halifax residents have purchased cannabis legally since stores opened last month.

While there may have been a recent pull back on Cannabis stocks, one thing that remains strong is the grow operations show no signs of slowing and instead continue to expand. The cannabis industry's growth is forcing industry cannabis focused companies to evaluate the current state of their operations, both in terms of scale and efficiency. Despite market conditions, more importantly as demand rises and retail sales improve, companies are still choosing to expand operations with investment and innovation. Driving the demand could also be attributed to the change in federal policy in the U.S. and recent legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada.

If one looks to industries like beer, wine or even coffee—each has its own exams and series of certifications to test one’s own sensory realms. Those who clear these high hurdles are called things like sommeliers, cicerone or Q-graders.

Aurora Cannabis Inc (NYSE:ACB) (TSX:ACB) announced Tuesday that it had secured an export permit and completed its first shipment of medical cannabis to the Czech Republic.

The first order was shipped to Czech Medical Herbs s.r.o., a Czech drug wholesaler, which will supply pharmacies across the country.

In order to run some of the leading cannabis firms in the world, it seems reasonable that one of the prerequisites of the job would be to have an extensive history of using marijuana from back when it was still considered an outlaw substance. But that is not necessarily the case, according to a recent surveyfrom BNN Bloomberg.

It seems that a small percentage of CEOs responsible for the day-to-day operations of cannabis companies in the U.S. and Canada do not use marijuana, while many others will not admit whether they do or not.

Canada currently finds itself at the intersection of two historic social phenomena with massive implications for public health.

First, after decades of restricting public access to marijuana, on Oct. 17, Canada became the first major industrial nation to fully legalize cannabis for both medicinal and recreational usage.

Second, we find ourselves in the throes of a worsening opioid addiction crisis that has already caused the deaths of thousands of Canadians, young and old.