Natura Naturals Inc. ("Natura") is pleased to announce that Health Canada has approved "Grow Space 2," a 34,500 square foot flowering room that has an anticipated harvest yield of 4,500 - 5,000 kilograms of medical-grade cannabis per year.

Natura expects to have its first harvest from Grow Space 2 in approximately 70 days, adding to the existing yield of its Leamington-based facility. 

President and CEO of Natura, Ben Nikolaevsky, said that the Health Canada approval demonstrates Natura's industry-leading experience, and builds on their production momentum.

For horticulture, propagation using tissue culture is nothing new. In fact, the technique has been used in crops like lettuce, hops, mint, potato stock, orchids, ornamental plants and berries.

“Tissue culture is the basis for just about every other big ag company,” says Dr. Jon Vaught, CEO and co-founder of Front Range Biosciences (FRB), an agricultural biotech company based in Lafayette, Colorado that specializes in tissue culture propagation of high value crops such as cannabis through its Clean Stock program. 

From a $1 billion projection to $2 billion in sales revenue by the year 2020, now is surely the best time to start thinking about putting your money where the cannabis plant grows.

Five years ago, Yahoo Canada News did a series on the dying small towns of Canada. The stagnation was largely blamed on the exit of one industry or another from many of the places visited. One of the towns featured in that series was Smiths Falls, Ont., struggling to recover from the exit of chocolate maker Hershey’s in 2007. At the time, residents said tourism was the answer to the town’s economic woes. Little did they know the industry that would breath life back into Smiths Falls was cannabis.

Though it may appear lofty, this detailed look at more than a dozen cannabis players suggests that 3 million kilograms of output is very doable.

This may very well go down in history as the most pivotal year for the legal cannabis industry. While numerous legalizations have been heralded before, we've never seen an industrialized country legalize recreational weed prior to Canada doing so. When sales officially kick off on Oct. 17, 2018, big money is expected to flow into the industry, with some analysts projecting in excess of $5 billion in sales being added once the industry is fully ramped up.

Doctors in Canada want to see the medical cannabis system phased out once legalization happens later this year, says a Canadian Medical Association vice-president.

"The medical profession, as a whole, has really struggled with the whole concept of medical cannabis. There's definitely some physicians who feel comfortable in that area but most don't," Dr. Jeff Blackmer, vice-president of medical professionalism for the Canadian Medical Association, told CBC Calgary News at 6. 

According to some studies, CBD isn’t the only cannabinoid that can help sick children.

The results of two recent studies suggest that THC may be effective in treating epilepsy. The news comes amid numerous reports that another cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD), may also be a viable treatment for seizure disorders. The work of medical researchers in Canada and Australia may indicate that cannabis medications with a combination of cannabinoidsmay be more effective at reducing seizures than CBD alone.

A cannabis compound that won't get users high can help ease the nausea cancer patients experience when going through chemotherapy, a new University of Guelph study suggests.

One of the first medical uses of THC (tetrahydrocannabionl), the psychoactive compound in cannabis that results in a person becoming high, was to treat chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.

This study shows alternate compounds of the cannabis plant could be used and are just as, or more effective, than other drugs used for nausea.

With cannabis legalization just around the corner, one Canadian company is calling for the inclusion of cannabis concentrates in Bill C-45, the so-called “Cannabis Act.”

Josh Campbell, president of cannabis company Dosist Canada, says in omitting concentrates from legalization, consumers are being denied a method for consistent delivery of THC and CBD — the two most commonly sought-after drugs contained in the cannabis plant.

“When we talk about dose, we’re talking about a controlled, repeatable experience,” Campbell told StarMetro in an email. “Without that. you lose predictability and control – the cornerstones of a safe and therapeutic experience. Dose control is critical for responsible use.”

To better prepare the workforce, a Canadian company will start teaching cannabis education courses for employers. A Canadian consulting company will soon be starting cannabiseducation for employers, according to a report from the CBC. The Alberta firm, Cannabis at Work, will offer courses to help employers navigate the Canadian legalization of cannabis.

The classes are designed to help companies understand how the law impacts employers that may have workers who use cannabis, either medicinally or recreationally. The courses are scheduled to begin next month at the University of Calgary.