The Canadian government is rapidly speeding up the issuance of cultivation licenses to marijuana producers across the country, in a move that aims to address growing concerns of a supply crunch in the legal weed market come July 1, 2018. 

The Department of Health announced the winners of 12 grower/processor permits as part of Pennsylvania's nascent medical marijuana industry.

John Collins, director of the state's Office of Medical Marijuana, said the department received 457 applications in total, including 177 prospective grower/processors and 280 for dispensaries.

The 12 grower/processor permit awardees are included below:

Collaboration will begin immediately in New York State with additional states to follow.

A Cork mother has travelled to the Netherlands to get medicinal cannabis for her sick daughter.

Vera Twomey's seven-year-old daughter Ava suffers from a severe form of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome which can be treated with medicinal cannabis oil.

Vera has been a vocal campaigner for the treatment to be made available in Ireland and has raised over €21,000 through a fundraising campaign for Ava.

"The reason we have arrived in Holland is because the Government, the HSE, the neurologists have demanded that we would go to another country to provide evidence that this treatment would work for our daughter," she said.

A decree issued by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto yesterday confirmed that Mexico has legalized cannabis for medicinal use after overwhelming support from Mexico’s Lower House of Congress.

The firm aims to start research and production of cannabis oils immediately, it said.

Progress at WeedMD Inc (CVE:WMD) just keeps rolling on..

Today, the group said it had received a supplemental licence from Health Canada to produce medical cannabis oils - an important market.

"This is an important milestone in our path and commitment to providing physicians and their patients with alternative, more convenient and dose-controlled consumption methods," said Bruce Dawson-Scully, chief executive.

As Pennsylvania prepares to award its first licenses for the fledgling medical marijuana industry, Lehigh University intends to partner with one of the potential growers in the Lehigh Valley to study the effect of the drug on children with autism.

While some parents of autistic children have preached the benefits of cannabis for years, Lehigh's Dean of Education Gary Sasso confirmed Monday that the university wants to collect some of the first quantitative data on the controversial drug therapy. Pennsylvania is one of the few states that specifically allows children with autism to be treated with cannabis.

Trials of cannabis-derived medicines are hoped to have answers for cancer pain and nausea.

Medlab Clinical Limited has received Human Research Ethics Committee approvals to begin human trials of two different cannabis-based medicines.

Developed at the medical life science company’s Sydney laboratory facility, the medicines have two different applications and will be clinically tested at different locations.

Medlab says the impending commencement of the trials will be a significant advancement for cannabis research globally.

The first medicine, NanaBis, is set to be clinically tested in advanced stage cancer patients with intractable pain.

A big issue involving medical marijuana has emerged in the past year: Many people prefer using marijuana for their condition rather than opioids.

Former NFL and NBA players have come forward to say that both leagues should allow players to at least try marijuana for pain management, given the known issues with opioid use and the ongoing overdose epidemic.

Numerous studies are underway around the world to learn of the potential health benefits of using marijuana, including for pain management.

Taking advantage of an impending boom in industrial space for marijuana growers — notably class-B and class-C warehouses — isn’t as simple as just snatching up properties and signing up tenants.

Does the growing legalization of recreational and medical marijuana represent a pot of gold for industrial real estate? It could, experts say, but only if investors quickly and carefully pounce on opportunities.