A Southwestern Ontario marijuana grower has been paid $10 million after a plan to merge with a leading cannabis lifestyle brand was scuttled.

WeedMD, an Aylmer-based licensed pot producer that recently expanded to Strathroy, was on track to merge with Hiku Brands Ltd. in a $240-million deal orchestrated in April.

But WeedMD announced Tuesday that the deal had fallen through and the company was paid a $10-million termination fee.

Londoner Keith Merker, who had been chief financial officer, now helms WeedMD, replacing chief executive Bruce Dawson-Sculley, who will stay on as an adviser, the company has announced.

Canadians will be surrounded by the logos of new recreational cannabis brands at a variety of fun events this summer as pot purveyors are exploiting a once-in-a-lifetime chance to market their products before government restrictions fully kick in.

At recent concerts by both classic rockers Jethro Tull and rap superstar Kendrick Lamar, banners bearing the Tweed logo were everywhere at Toronto's Budweiser Stage. Tweed is the recreational brand of Canopy Growth, a marijuana company based in Smiths Falls, Ont.

As the countdown to cannabis legalization creeps closer and closer, so too do the questions about where you be will be able to consume it.

Less than a week ago, the provincial government announced the type of fines a person would face for the improper use of recreational marijuana — a range of anywhere from $200 to $2,250 for violations once weed is legalized in October.

The federal government’s move to greenlight the growing of commercial cannabis outdoors will allow Canadian producers to compete globally, but it also carries risks, those in the industry say.

At least one medical marijuana grower in Southwestern Ontario – one of the country’s richest farm belts, where seven indoor pot producers now operate – says his company is cautiously exploring the new outdoor option, while another was quick to rule it out.

The mixed reaction comes as the federal Liberals prepare to lift the outdoor cultivation ban on medicinal and recreational cannabis – the drug could previously only be grown in greenhouses or indoors – in a bid to create a competitive industry and battle the black market ahead of legalization on Oct. 17.

ALBERTA -- City council in Lacombe has given first reading to the community’s first smoking bylaw, one with heavy restrictions on where tobacco and cannabis can be consumed in public.

The proposed bylaw prohibits cannabis smoking, vaping or consumption in any public place – including parks, trails and playgrounds – as well as private property frequented by residents (business or mall parking lots, for example).

Tobacco smoking would be allowed in parking lots provided a person is at least 10 metres from any doorway.

The Saskatchewan government says it won't allow recreational cannabis or vaping lounges to operate in the province, further restricting the number of places people will be allowed to smoke pot when it's legalized on Oct. 17.

A spokesperson for the province's Ministry of Justice confirmed the news on Monday morning, about a week after laying out a series of fines that could be charged to people caught smoking in numerous public spaces.

Saskatchewan's omnibus cannabis legislation, Bill 121, which came into late law in May, says it will be illegal to consume cannabis in parks, playgrounds, cinemas, outdoor theatres or  any "other place of public resort or amusement."

Tilray Inc. is getting closer to going public.

The Nanaimo, B.C.-based cannabis grower is looking to sell its shares for between US$14 and US$16 apiece (between $18.40 and $21), the company said Monday in a regulatory filing.

That price range values Tilray between about US$1.3-billion and US$1.5-billion. Tilray has applied to list its stock in the United States on the Nasdaq.

At that valuation, Tilray would be Canada’s fourth-largest publicly traded marijuana firm behind Canopy Growth Corp., Aurora Cannabis Inc. – which is buying MedReleaf Corp. – and Aphria Inc.

Female entrepreneurs are carving out their own space in the male-heavy cannabis industry — and they're doing it with style.

Until now, the stoner culture aesthetic has looked more like Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke or Seth Rogen's Pineapple Express than something you'd find in lifestyle reads like Goop or Vogue.

But with legalization, pot is going mainstream. New fashion-forward accessories like sleek vape pens and hand-crafted ceramic stash jars are being created to appeal specifically to women, who represent a fast-growing market for weed.

A limit on pot shops in Jasper?

Put it in the air.

A working group of mostly law enforcement officials and Parks Canada managers has recommended allowing the market to decide how many marijuana dispensaries can open in October.

The Cannabis Working Group’s final report to Jasper town council is included with the July 10 council agenda and is available on the town’s website.

Their recommendations appear to follow closely with the responses of a survey that attracted the most responses of any such exercise by the town.

That includes what floors they should be allowed on. Residents said top, street level and basement, and that’s what the group says council should get behind. Parks Canada has the final word.

The government of Prince Edward Island will let hotel operators decide whether they'll allow cannabis use in their rooms.

Accommodations operators know their customers best, says Tourism Minister Chris Palmer.

"It will be legal. So we want to allow as many freedoms as we can, but also respect the rights of other people," he said.

"There won't be any cannabis smoking allowed in common areas, hallways and lobbies," Palmer added. 

'Freedom to choose'

Cannabis will be legalized across Canada on Oct. 17.