Survey asks public thoughts on cannabis, interest in trying pot products.

With the legalization of marijuana on the horizon, the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) wants to know what the community thinks about cannabis and its products through an online survey.

The public will have until the end of June to fill out the anonymous survey, which will ask people about their attitudes and knowledge of cannabis, cannabis use and impacts — and if they are interested in trying cannabis edibles.

Province lays out rules in anticipation of federal legalization.

After months of debate and revisions, Quebec has adopted a law laying out the guidelines for the sale and distribution of cannabis in the province.

Premier Philippe Couillard's Liberals, who hold a majority in the National Assembly, all voted for Bill 157. Québec Solidaire, which holds three seats, also voted in favour.

The opposition Parti Québécois and Coalition Avenir Québec voted against (more on that later).

Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois says the province will be ready when the federal legislation will be in place later this year. 

But she also took pains to stress the government is not promoting cannabis and the legislation includes plenty of restrictions on its use.

Staff at the Municipality of Highlands East are preparing for changes coming once marijuana is legalized in Canada this summer.

CAO Shannon Hunter told council that a memo had been issued to staff regarding drug use in the workplace. That memo states that despite the changes to legislation, “employees are prohibited from consuming, possessing, selling or transferring cannabis (including any substances containing cannabis) in the workplace, which includes all of the municipality’s properties and vehicles.”

The municipality is also anticipating calls to the bylaw department by property owners about “smell and odour” from neighbours’ properties, or potentially  about people using marijuana in public places.

'To a 5-year-old, smoking is smoking, whether it involves tobacco, cannabis, cigarettes or vaporizing'.

More municipalities around Alberta are crafting bylaws to deal with the issue of smoking and vaping marijuana in public places once recreational cannabis becomes legal later this year.

On Monday, the Town of Banff banned vaping and smoking pot in all public places once cannabis becomes legal, and the City of Lloydminster went one step further, banning the smoking or vaping of all substances in public.

"We applaud the City of Lloydminster for making public health a top priority by banning all forms of smoking and vaping in indoor and outdoor public areas," said Les Hagen, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health.

Two Manitoba companies have joined forces to create a new cannabis beer CNW-Delta 9 Cannabis Inc.

With the prospect of recreational use of marijuana becoming legal, companies are eagerly seeking new opportunities in a basically brand new market, and one potentially worth billions of dollars

Now two companies in the western prairie province of Manitoba have teamed up to create something unique.

A craft brewer and a medical-marijuana grower have been working together to create a hemp lager which has just been released into the Manitoba market.

Runners-up are Canadian-born former broadcaster Laurie Gelman and Toronto-based culture writer Scaachi Koul.

British Columbia-based author Jennifer Craig has won this year's Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour.

It was announced that Craig won the $15,000 grand prize for her book Gone to Pot, published by Second Story Press, at a gala in Orillia, Ont.

The novel tells the story of a B.C. grandmother who, after losing her job, takes to growing marijuana in her basement.

Craig's previous work includes a memoir about her time working as a nurse in the U.K. before immigrating to Canada in the 1960s.

Named after famed Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock, the prize is awarded annually for the best book in Canadian literary humour.

As Ottawa prepares to take its final steps toward legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, the head of a task force that made recommendations to the federal government for the bill issued a warning to industry members not to “play fast and loose” with the new rules.

Speaking to industry members gathered at the first World Cannabis Congress in Saint John, former Liberal cabinet minister Anne McLellan said Canadians are becoming increasingly sensitive about the legalization of cannabis as its advent draws nearer. She urged companies that are licensed to produce cannabis – many of which have bristled at the strict limitations the government is pursuing on branding and packaging their products, for example – to respect legislators’ cautious approach and boundaries.

A move to tell the Province of Ontario that Sault Ste. Marie doesn't want a cannabis store failed miserably.

In fact, only the mover of the resolution, Ward 2 Coun. Susan Myers, voted in favor of the resolution to go on record opposing the opening of a retail cannabis outline in Sault Ste. Marie.

Myers wanted council to go on record opposing the opening of a retail cannabis outlet in Sault Ste. Marie because of all the harmful effects drugs have on the community at large, and particularly youth.

New Brunswick has been a leader among provinces in developing expertise in cannabis field.

NB Liquor, tasked with operating New Brunswick's stand-alone cannabis stores, says it's ready to go. 

"If we had to open today, we could open 11 stores," CEO and president Brian Harriman said at the World Cannabis Congress in Saint John on Monday.

However, some 100 workers have yet to be hired or trained by Cannabis NB, he said. 

To manage costs, hiring has been put off until it's clear when the law will be in effect, he said. 

The three-day cannabis conference is a gathering of stakeholders sponsored by Civilized, a digital media company founded by communications strategist and Saint John native Derek Riedle.

'You just can't ban it outright,' says Lt.-Gen. Chuck Lamarre.

The Canadian military will not be in a position to impose an outright ban on the use of recreational marijuana, but its restrictions will be more wide-ranging than its policy governing alcohol, says a senior commander.

A draft policy is waiting in the wings for the Liberal government to pass C-45, the cannabis legalization bill, which was sent back from the Senate to the House of Commons with a long list of amendments last week.

The new policy "allows us to respect the law," Lt.-Gen. Chuck Lamarre, chief of military personnel, said in a recent interview.