Maricann Group Inc. (CSE:MARI)(FRANKFURT:75M)(OTCQB:MRRCF)(“Maricann” or the “Company”), is pleased to announce that the Company is now part of an exclusive group of Canadian Licensed Producers to be Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certified in accordance with the European Medicines Agency’s GMP standards.

Recreational cannabis could well be legalized in Canada by July 2018. And whilst Ontario passed legislation that will regulate the lawful use, how much do we really know about the potential impact this will have on workplaces?

We spoke to Peter Straszynski, Torkin Manes LLP – presenter of HRD Canada’s upcoming webinar Cannabis in the workplace - a guide for HR professionals – who gave us his take on the impending issue.

“Employers in industries which deal with safety sensitive work, for example construction where employees are working with machinery, are concerned over the legalization and what that means in terms of tolerance,” explained Straszynski.

For all the talk about the incoming legalization of recreational cannabis, the topic of medical cannabis seems to have been lost in the haze, says one Victoria businessman.

While recreational users will be able to walk into a retail store and buy pot as easily as a bottle of beer, James Whitehead said the Health Canada mail-order system to obtain medical marijuana can be bureaucratic and confusing.

As a result, many who use cannabis for pain relief, arthritis or insomnia end up buying it from one of Victoria’s three dozen dispensaries.

The problem with that, Whitehead said, is that not all dispensary staff are qualified to give medical advice.

Advocates for medical cannabis are preparing to fight the government’s official proposal of a new excise tax for prescription pot.

Bill C-74, the Budget Implementation Act, includes a plan to tax legal cannabis at either $1 per gram or 10 percent of the product price, whichever is greater, Finance Canada officials confirmed yesterday (April 26). All products will fall under this increase barring some only containing trace amounts of THC, the psychoactive compound found in cannabis.

Canntab Therapeutics Limited (CSE: PILL) (formerly Telferscot Resources Inc.) ("Canntab" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it continues to expand its extensive intellectual property portfolio through the recent filing of 3 additional US patent applications and 1 international (Patent Cooperation Treaty or "PCT") application. Canntab's portfolio now includes 11 patent applications in the United States and internationally. These filings, which include 7 non-provisional US patent application and 4 PCT patent applications, build on Canntab's growing intellectual property portfolio, which already included 7 provisional US patent applications and 10 trademark applications in the United States and Canada.

Three 8-week online courses now available in both English and French.

A post secondary school based in Sudbury plans to capitalize on the emerging cannabis industry, which is expected to grow significantly once the federal government legalizes marijuana later this summer.

Collège Boréal has launched three online courses in cannabis training. The courses are each eight weeks long and are available in both English and French.

"With the cannabis industry obviously in a boom, and the upcoming legislation that's around the corner, there is a very high demand for trained professionals," Julie Nadeau, director of Contract Training said.

Kait Shane, educator at Natural Health Services, said the chain is hiring, but is finding many doctors are hesitant to get into the cannabis business.

Medical cannabis clinics are on the hunt for physicians as waiting lists grow.

Natural Health Services, a popular Canadian chain of clinics, stopped taking new patients at its Edmonton and Calgary locations in February because the influx of new clients was giving existing patients grief trying to book followup appointments.

“That just came to a head, basically,” said Natural Health Services community outreach educator Kait Shane.

“It was just a matter of really wanting to concentrate on patient care for our existing patients … They’re having problems, they’re frustrated, and we can’t have that.”

An unexpected drama played out at a conference centre in Toronto recently, beginning with a presentation about the future of medical marijuana and ending in insults, jeers and a minor Twitter storm. At the heart of the dispute was a question that producers and users of medical cannabis feel strongly about: Once recreational pot is legal, should there still be a separate medical marijuana system?

As we move toward the legalization of recreational cannabis, I thought it would be interesting to look at a recent case dealing with medical cannabis and the efforts of one person to get assistance from his province's workers' compensation board to contribute to the cost of the medical cannabis prescribed to him.

Interpreting the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations can be tough. That’s why Herb has prepared this handy guide to help you pick the right licensed producer of medical cannabis for you.

People turn to medical cannabis for various reasons over the course of their lives. From a strained muscle to anxiety, Parkinson’s to fibromyalgia, cannabis can be an alternative therapy for a variety of health issues.

Interpreting the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations can be tough and can leave people feeling confused, regardless of whether they are an experienced cannabis consumer or simply wanting to learn how cannabis can fit into their life.