Canada's anti-doping watchdogs are warning athletes that while cannabis use will become legal for the average Canadian as of next weekend, a toke remains taboo for them.

CBD is the short form for "cannabidiol," a cannabis extract. But the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) would rather athletes remember it as "Can Be Dangerous."

The message is part of a CCES social media campaign to alert athletes to potential pitfalls around the legalization of marijuana. The drug remains on the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned substance list, and Paul Melia, the president and CEO of the CCES, said that Canadian athletes need to remember that.

While B.C. may be known for its production of bud, Nova Scotians lead the country in cannabis consumption among people 15 and older, according to Statistics Canada data released Thursday.

Smoking recreational cannabis will be legal in Canada for those 19 and older starting Wednesday though edible cannabis products will remain illegal for the time being.

According to the third-quarter findings for Statistics Canada's national cannabis survey, 23 per cent of Nova Scotia residents reported using cannabis, which was followed by B.C. at 20 per cent.

For the country as a whole, it worked out to 15 per cent of residents — or 4.6 million people.

Starting a week today, people in Ontario will be able to legally buy marijuana at a government-run online store, with the product delivered to customers for a $5 delivery fee using Canada Post. 

Officials with the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) held a technical briefing with reporters today, less than a week before recreational cannabis use becomes legal in Canada on Wednesday. 

Visitors to the site must first enter their birth date to confirm they're older than 19. The age is then verified using identification upon delivery.

It appears the waiting game employed by Aphria Inc (TSE:APH) (OTCMKTS:APHQF) (FRA:10E) CEO Vic Neufeld may be paying dividends. Pressed by impatient investors to partner-up with any number of interested transnational conglomerates, Mr. Neufeld appears to be slow-playing his hand in an effort to obtain the best deal. It seems to be working.

The all-stock purchase, which will give MedMen 10 additional dispensaries and licences for several more, is one of the biggest in the history of the legal weed industry, which has seen its value explode in recent weeks as Canada prepares to legalize cannabis for adult use next week. With regulations set to loosen in more U.S. states, and around the world, investors are pouring billions of dollars into marijuana companies.

MedMen, which is run from Los Angeles, currently has 16 marijuana dispensaries in the U.S., including in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York. With the acquisition of Illinois-based PharmaCann, MedMen will have 79 licensed cannabis facilities, including grow operations, in 12 states, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Stefania Zilinskas knows she’s made an “incredibly risky” move.

The 34-year-old left her job as a securities lawyer at Blakes, Cassels and Graydon LLP in July after a five year tenure and a path to partnership. But Zilinskas says she gave up the chance to climb to the top of one of Canada’s biggest law firms to take a role in the fast-moving cannabis industry, joining Tidal Royalty Corp., a Toronto-based marijuana financing company, as its general counsel. “I was very happy at [Blakes]. I could have seen myself there for years and years,” Zilinskas said in a phone interview with BNN Bloomberg. “It’s really exciting to be in a completely new industry… I believe in the legalization of cannabis and the cultural and legal shifts that need to go along with that.”

Cannabis legalization is coming to Canada on Oct. 17, and whether you plan on smoking up or not, it’ll change the way you live. Businesses across the country, from growers and retailers to the tech and tourism sectors, are preparing to reap a windfall from legal marijuana. But Canadians also face difficult questions about cannabis use in the workplace, in their homes and among their friends and loved ones.

Many universities across the country are banning any use of cannabis on campus, a move advocates say is too restrictive with marijuana legalization just around the corner.

Some campuses, including the University of British Columbia and a campus of the University of Alberta, are allowing smoking and vaping of cannabis in designated areas once consumption is legalized on Oct. 17.

And the University of New Brunswick and the University of Waterloo are banning smoking of marijuana but will allow students living in residence to make and eat cannabis oil-infused edibles. But these universities are in the minority, with most enacting policies that prohibit any use of cannabis anywhere on campus, including dorm rooms.

Mat Beren and his friends used to drive by the vast greenhouses of southern British Columbia and joke about how much weed they could grow there.

When Canada launches its fully recreational marijuana market in the next week, the cannabis industry is expected to not only serve those die-hard customers who have dedicated years, maybe even decades to the black market but also those curious people new to cannabis. It is those neophytes on the scene, those with little concern for getting stoned out of their gourds, that could create an overwhelming demand in low-THC pot products, according to an insightful report from Deloitte.