A spokesperson for Canadian Blood Services says the legalization of cannabis this past week will have no impact on its blood donor clinics. Territory Manager Steve Raizen says the fact that cannabis is legal does not change the way they screen donors.

"No, it doesn't. Canadians are eligible to give blood as long as they are not intoxicated. Many people think that they are ineligible to give because of past marijuana use, but that's not the case. If a person is sober and can give informed consent and they meet our other criteria, then they are eligible to donate blood."

The Mohawk reserve that straddles three borders (Ontario, Quebec and New York State) is home to Seven Leaf, which promotes itself as Canada’s first Indigenous owned and operated medical cannabis producer licensed by Health Canada. The company received licensing approval last month.

CannTrust Holdings Inc. (“CannTrust” or the “Company”, TSX: TRST), one of Canada’s leading licensed producers and most trusted brands for medical cannabis, and Kindred, a wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary of Breakthru Beverage Group, have finalized their exclusive partnership.

Kindred will represent CannTrust’s cannabis products to the Canadian adult consumer market for recreational use and utilize the insights from its sister-company, Breakthru Beverage Canada, to deploy a state-of-the-art route-to-market platform for CannTrust.

Ontario and B.C. alone have already snapped up more than half of the country’s existing grow-op space.

The rush for cannabis is on in Canada and so is finding the real estate to grow it.

The legalization of recreational weed on Wednesday has already fuelled a sixfold surge in pot-growing facilities to 8.7 million square feet (808,256 square meters) in the year through September, according to data from Altus Group Ltd. — space about the size of Amazon.com Inc.’s Seattle headquarters.

The first shopper at Cannabis NB's Main Street location in Moncton left without a purchase.

Cannabis sales were brisk around New Brunswick on the first day of legalized retailing, despite prices on many products that appeared to be the highest in Canada.

Dameon Pettis was one of the first shoppers let into the Cannabis NB store on Moncton's Main Street but left without making a purchase.

"The prices are just not in our price range, honestly," said Pettis. "I feel they should be lowered, but I guess in time.  Nothing happens overnight."

Legal cannabis is set to usher in a wave of high-value, age-restricted parcels in the mail system, and delivery companies say they're ready.

The test of the system will come as Ontario relies entirely on the postal system for deliveries when pot is legalized on Wednesday while other provinces expect to see a fair portion of sales from online.

All provinces will require strict age verification of deliveries, but a combination of existing practices and new systems will help Purolator with the challenge, said Ramsey Mansour, vice-president of corporate strategy and marketing at the company.

"We have set up the appropriate technologies, training, and processes in place to be able to address this growing market. So we feel that we're adequately prepared."

Earlier in the day, at a media briefing across from Parliament Hill, bureaucrats from seven federal departments patiently answered questions about the thousands of rules and regulations that will govern the sale of cannabis.

And at a scrappy end of Merivale Road, an engaging young man in red running shoes sat in the waiting room of an illegal marijuana dispensary, chatting about the stigma that still surrounds the evil weed.

NHL players say the legalization of marijuana in Canada won’t change how they go about their business.

With recreational cannabis set to become legal across the country on Wednesday, NHLers are aware of the change, but not concerned it will impact them for the time being.

“I think it’s just a new concept that everyone’s trying to wrap their head around,” Toronto Maple Leafs centre Nazem Kadri said. ”We just treat the rules as they have been in the past.”

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said last month that pot legalization won’t affect the league’s drug-testing policy run in conjunction with the NHL Players’ Association.

The cannabis hype is about to come face-to-face with reality.

After Canada legalizes recreational marijuana on Oct. 17, it will only take a quarter or two for clear winners and losers to emerge, according to investors and analysts who follow the sector. This means investors will have to get choosier as the days of highly correlated stock moves draw to a close.

“These have all been concept stocks and they’re going to actually have to be real companies in another few months, which I think a lot of guys are terrified about,” said Greg Taylor, who manages the Purpose Marijuana Opportunities Fund. Taylor prefers CannTrust Holdings Inc., Hexo Corp. and Organigram Holdings Inc., which he says trade at a “more realistic valuation” than some of their bigger peers.

Mandarin, a rescue cat, licks her forelegs when she gets anxious. That tends to happen when Johnson leaves town, or when she has house guests. Two years ago, the licking got so bad that Mandarin developed bald spots. When changing the cat’s diet didn’t help, Johnson decided to try CBD oil, which she ordered online from a legal cannabis dispensary in Vancouver.

“We saw an immediate response. Within a couple of days, Mandarin chilled out and soon we were seeing regrowth. She still licks a bit, but we’re thrilled with the results,” said Johnson, who still adds the oil to Mandarin’s treats.