As cannabis becomes a legitimate, legal, and highly profitable crop, scientists are finally beginning to analyze and understand it. And what they're finding is that the long ban has led to consumers basically knowing nothing about it.

As the ban on cannabis lessens, scientists have finally sweeping away the popular understanding of the crop and how it works, which has largely been informed by guesswork and superstition. Case in point: the divide between indica and sativa strains, which a team from various Canadian universities recently examined.

The provincial government has forced municipalities to regulate, but not prohibit, medical marijuana growing on farmland.

Corn, hay, cranberries, sure, but prime farmland in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) in the Fraser Valley is no place to grow marijuana.

That was the position of Chilliwack city council two years ago with regard to medical marijuana grow operations (MMGOs), but now the provincial government has ordered the city to allow exactly that.

"It's unfortunate and disheartening that the province is forcing us into compliance," Coun. Chris Kloot said at Tuesday's council meeting.

It has been farmed for over 6000 years, it was used by Queen Victoria, George Washington, Joan of Arc, Ramesses II and possibly Shakespeare - yet how much do we really know about the history of dagga?

Not much according to research published in the free online journal PloS One, which says "due to restrictions on scientific inquiry brought about by drug policy, the evolutionary and domestication history of Cannabis remains poorly understood."

In order to correct this, the University of British Colombia performed the first large scale genetic study of Marijuana and hemp.

Canada is the world's leader in the production of hemp.

Tests on marijuana from around the world show their genetic makeup may be far from different from their purported background.

“There’s a lot of confusion and a lot of chaos in the system now,” says Jonathan Page, a University of B.C. botanist who helped lead the first large-scale study of the genetic diversity of cannabis. His most recent work is published today in the online journal Plos One.

“Right now, the genetic identity of a marijuana strain cannot be accurately determined by its name or reported ancestry,” Page said in a news release. “Ultimately, we require a practical, accurate and more reliable classification system of this plant.”

VANCOUVER — To tax or not to tax — that is the unanswered question now that Vancouver City Council has decided to regulate its marijuana dispensaries.

Various levels of government are finding themselves in an awkward situation as they determine whether to impose taxation on the businesses — and thereby confer further legitimacy on a commercial activity related to cannabis.

According to Canada’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, cannabis possession remains a federal offence unless it is for medicinal use and the user has a doctor’s prescription.

Authorities can't agree on a set pot policy

It’s police versus pot shops in the escalating battle over “medical” marijuana in Vancouver — and the cops say it’s keeping them busier than a bud grower at harvest time.

Marijuana shops are sprouting like weeds all over the city.

And despite claims that the stores are helping sick people by providing them with medical marijuana grown by green-thumbed angels of mercy, overwhelmed police say that’s not always the case.

“We’ve seen an explosion in the number of stores — we’ve gone from 12 to over 100,” said Sgt. Randy Fincham, spokesman for the Vancouver Police Department.

“It certainly is creating more work for us. It has caused us to take a hard look at where we’re going to put our police resources.”

VANCOUVER -- Michelle Arnold says she's seen cannabis oil save two lives -- hers and her husband's.

Now, she's fighting for the chance to see if it can save her four-and-a-half-month-old daughter, who is clinging to life in a Vancouver hospital.

"I can't just give up when I've seen hope," Arnold said tearfully outside B.C. Supreme Court on Friday.

RELATED STORIES

• B.C. couple wins injunction to keep child on life support

"If there is a medicine out there ... that can help her, that can make her my child, then I will do it. I will do whatever I can to give it to her."

Couple fight for chance to see if treatment can save daughter clinging to life in a Vancouver hospital.

They knew a course in legal marijuana growing would spark interest from the public, but staff at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) never thought it would go viral.

Since announcing the new program on Monday (Aug. 17), the internet has blown up with articles.

TIME Magazine, BBC, CNBC, Fox News, USA Today, and VICE are just some of the outlets eager to report the story, according to Hayley Woodin, media specialist at KPU.

"It's been a stressful week," Jim Pelton, executive director of continuing and professional studies at KPU, said with a laugh.

He had just returned to work Monday morning from a relaxing vacation on Hornby Island, when he was immediately greeted by Woodin who said, "you're going to be on TV at 1 o'clock."

For marijuana sellers looking to add finesse to their weed growing skills, a university in Canada has designed a course to bring marijuana dealing to professional standards.

The Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Vancouver is offering a course in marijuana management. Introduction to Professional Management of Marijuana for Medical Purposes in Canada will be available as an online course lasting 14 weeks from this Autumn.

It will be divided into two main learning strands; Marketing Sales and Drug Development, followed by Plant Production and Facility Management.

However, the course is not cheap and will set back marijuana sellers a hefty $1,249.