Health Canada market data for the past few years shows that British Columbians and Quebecers appear to prefer the black market over Canada’s legal medical cannabis system. 

Despite being the second and third largest provinces in Canada, with over 8 million and 4.7 million people respectively, shipments to registered patients in Quebec and British Columbia are some of the lowest in the country. 

Patients registered in Quebec only received 2,457 shipments in August. BC, only 2,534. The same month saw 34,757 shipments to registered clients in Ontario and 12,986 in Alberta. Previous data shows similar figures in the past. 

Canada's largest pharmacy chain has formally applied to be a distributor of medical marijuana.

"We have applied to be a licensed producer strictly for the purposes of distributing medical marijuana," Shoppers Drug Mart spokeswoman Tammy Smitham told CBC News in an email Tuesday.

"We have no intention of producing medical marijuana, but we do want the ability to dispense medical marijuana to our patients in conjunction with counselling from a pharmacist."

The move is the next step in a logical progression for the chain, which earlier this year was looking into the possibility of entering the burgeoning business. 

In 2014, Colorado became the first U.S. state to implement full legal sales of marijuana.

It had never been done before, and there were bound to be some surprises.

One was that, despite the decades of associating pot use with the haze and skunky smell of a joint, nearly half the marijuana sold wasn’t designed to be smoked, but ingested — eaten or drunk.

An organic gardening company in Switzerland has managed to make high-CBD cannabis flower available to consumers by capping the THC content and registering the product with regulators as a tobacco substitute. The Fedora strain, cultivated by northern Swiss grower Bio Can, is advertised at 7.2 percent CBD and just 0.04 percent THC, which reportedly allows the buds to adhere to both the Swiss Narcotics Act as well as existing food laws.

Not too long ago, if you wanted to ingest cannabis, you were going to either smoke it or eat it using some traditional method. Now, we’ve got vaporizers, tinctures, wax, and so on. Innovative marijuana companies are constantly coming up with new and interesting ways to medicate with the plant. One of the most interesting ways to ingest cannabis that I’ve ever seen has got to be the new “Vapen Clear” inhaler from the Arizona company Vapen. Up until now, Vapen has mostly sold tech products used for the delivery of cannabis. The Vapen Clear appears to be the first of its kind and is unlike anything we’ve seen.

North Dakota voters will decide next month whether to legalize marijuana for medical use by siding either with opponents who say science is on their side or with supporters like a desperate grandmother who illegally purchased the drug to help her cancer-stricken daughter.

Four states have ballot measures this year asking to join the list of 25 states that have comprehensive medical marijuana programs and 17 states that permit limited access to the drug. Minnesota recently approved a plan, while several states are considering legalizing the drug altogether.

Researchers have the clearest-ever picture of the receptor that gives humans the 'high' from marijuana, which could lead to a better understanding of how the drug affects humans. 

Scientists have long known that molecules from THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana, bind to and activate the receptor known as CB1. But now they know that it has a three-dimensional crystal structure.

The authors of the paper, which was published Thursday in the journal Cell, say this information is crucial to improve our understanding of this receptor as marijuana use becomes widespread and, in many places, legalized.

Now that they know the shape of the receptor, they can get a better idea of how different molecules bind to it, which is what causes reactions in humans.

If you suffer from insomnia, anxiety or some sort of continuous pain, then you’ve probably tried self-medicating loads of times.

Alcohol. Pain killers. Sleeping tablets.

They might all work for a while but, once the effect has worn off, you’re back to square one – uncomfortable, tired and stressed.

But you can now get a 100% organic hemp milk which promises to sooth anxieties and pains, aid sleep and reduce stress – via CBD (cannabidiol) oil.

Relax, by Rawligion, contains hemp seeds, cashews, dates, coconut oil, vanilla, water and CBD oil – and that’s it.

North Dakota is one of the states where medical marijuana legalization is up for a vote in the upcoming elections. Already, the measure is causing divisions among residents. Those in support of claiming that cannabis helps with pain, while those against argue that there is no solid scientific evidence to prove pot’s medical uses.

There are four states with ballot measures that seek to join the list of 25 states where medical marijuana is already legal. In North Dakota, the ballot initiative is called Measure 5, San Francisco Gate reports.