Many of our readers may be pleased about the soon-to-be legalization of marijuana. These same readers may find themselves feeling slightly relieved, as gone are the days where smoking pot also meant breaking the law. Right? Wrong.

Although cannabis is about to become legal in Canada, there are still many important legalities that must be borne in mind, or else you could find yourself in some hot water.

Province Brands of Canada, a premium adult beverage company, has raised over $15 million dollars since it launched its funding round in April 2018.

The Series A round of funding which closed on August 24, brought in $10.95 million raised by 91 investors.

A seed round in March brought in $4.1 million, and the company also entered into a strategic alliance agreement and share exchange with Auxly Cannabis Group Inc. (formerly Cannabis Wheaton Income Corp.).

Province Brands is the first company in the world to brew beer from the cannabis plant. They have developed a patent-pending process to create alcohol-free yet intoxicating beverages with a dose-response curve similar to that of alcohol.

In all the great songs written about pot, from Bob Marley’s Kaya to John Prine’s Illegal Smile, none have ever dealt with the problem of there being too much weed.

As legalization looms on the Canadian horizon, suppliers concerned about not being able to meet initial demand are ramping up production capacity ahead of Oct. 17. (On a corporate earnings call this spring, Aphria CEO Vic Neufeld noted that “unless someone’s out there hiding 100,000 kilograms, we’re looking at a real shortfall.”)

An overlooked aspect of recreational cannabis legalization in Canada is the privacy implications of the distribution systems, especially in the online environment.

The privacy and security risks are substantial, and protecting the online rights of consumers needs more attention. Highly sensitive personal information will be exposed to the risks of redistribution and data breaches, and these risks are magnified if the data is stored or processed in the United States.

In the province of Ontario, the framework put in place by the former Liberal government has been dramatically changed by the new Doug Ford government. While the Liberal’s plan had its flaws, the problems will be exacerbated by the premier’s move to privatize retail sales.

The City of Calgary is looking at four potential public cannabis consumption sites and wants public feedback.

The sites are meant to address a legislative shortfall, where cannabis is legal but it's not allowed to be consumed in public, in condos and apartment buildings or in hotels. 

In short, unless you own a house or are a guest in someone's house, you're out of luck when it comes to partaking in legalized marijuana. 

Under Calgary legislation, a ward can be considered for a site only if it's requested by the local councillor. In this case, all four areas are in the ward of Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra, the only one of 14 council members to make a request.

Students looking to legally light up joints or relax with a pot brownie after mid-terms this year might be in for a surprise. Universities are just starting to release details of their cannabis policies, and some plan to ban the smoking of marijuana and the consumption of edible cannabis even after it becomes legal on October 17.

University of Guelph vice-president Don O’Leary tells CTV Kitchener that in Ontario, consumption of cannabis will only be allowed in private residences -- not public spaces or workplaces. Considering that the residences on Guelph’s campus don’t allow smoking of any kind, that means inhaling recreational weed will be effectively banned.

The popular Players Paradise indoor sports facility in Stoney Creek has been sold to Green Relief Inc., a Flamborough-based medical marijuana grow operation.

Tasha Mazza-Kelton, president of Players Paradise, said the facility, operating since 2009, will close Oct. 31, but had been on the market for a number of years. She said the facility was sold last week. Warren Bravo, the chief executive officer of Green Relief Inc. said the company was approached by a real estate firm to determine if they were interested in the 100,000-square-foot facility.

“After some investigation, we realized that this deal not only made a lot of sense for Green Relief, but for the Stoney Creek community as well,” said Bravo, who operates Bravo Cement Contractor in Stoney Creek.

Aphria Inc. ("Aphria" or the "Company") (TSX: APH and US OTC: APHQF) today announced that it has entered into a supply agreement (the "Agreement") with the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation("NSLC") to provide a range of high-quality branded cannabis and cannabis derivative products for sale in Nova Scotia'sadult-use market starting on October 17, 2018.

In preparation for legal cannabis sales nationwide, Canadian Justice Minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould has approved a new roadside test to check for drug impairment.

The Drager DrugTest 5000 will be the first equipment for saliva screening to be used by Canadian law enforcement. It has the ability to test for THC, the main psychoactive component of marijuana.

The Liberal government has promised $161 million in funding for drug-testing equipment and for police training over the course of the next five years in conjunction with a public awareness campaign about the risks of driving while high.

The new equipment will be made available to law enforcement across Canada but police forces will be able to decide on their own what equipment they use.

The stock market value of Canadian cannabis producers shot up in the country after BNN Bloomberg TV reported that Diegeo Plc, a British multinational alcoholic beverage company, is in discussions with at least three Canadian cannabis producers about producing cannabis-infused beverages.

Share prices for marijuana producer Canopy Growth were up 6.4 percent on the stock market Wednesday, while Cronos Group, a medical marijuana company, jumped 5.25 percent. Marijuana-focused exchange-traded fund ETFMG Alternative Harvest ticked up 2.35 percent, Bloomberg reported last week.