New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill to decriminalize cannabis use and expunge all criminal penalties for possession of 2 ounces or less of marijuana. Meanwhile, Sen.

British economists, politicians and marijuana legalization advocates have criticized the Canadian cannabis model after conducting a research trip to Ontario.

Volte Face, a campaign group that aims to see cannabis legalized in the UK, took a cross-party group of MPs across the Atlantic on a fact-finding mission. It also brought Chris Snowden, head of lifestyle economics at a think-tank called the Institute for Economic Affairs, along for the ride.

Over the past year, we've seen a pretty big, but important, shift in the marijuana industry. No longer are promises good enough for investors to send cannabis stocks higher. Nowadays, with Canada having legalized adult-use marijuana, and two-thirds of U.S. states giving the green light to medical cannabis, earnings actually matter.

With the marijuana business hitting new ― ahem ― highs on a daily basis, one of the biggest headaches in the business is simply finding a name for your cannabis company that someone hasn’t already used. And one that isn’t totally lame.

Not to mention like with any new business with no brand recognition, you need to make yourself stand out. With that kind of pressure, it’s inevitable some efforts will go wrong.

Oklahoma’s Treehouse Dispensary was recently in the news after Canadian media company Nelvana took legal action against it, for using an almost perfect facsimile of the Treehouse TV logo.

Besides being a cringeworthy and blatant ripoff, using the logo of a TV channel for small children to sell weed raises questions about your target clientele.

A survey is being conducted to gauge how Islanders feel about cannabis use.

Islanders over 15 can take part in the 2019 Cannabis Survey at www3.gov.pe.ca/survey until Sept. 16.

Participants will be asked about their attitudes towards cannabis, their current use of cannabis, and their knowledge of lower-risk cannabis use. 

The survey is anonymous. Upon completion of the survey, participants will be given the option to enter their name to win an iPad or a Confederation Bridge pass. There will be four prize draws over the next six weeks.

In the wake of the most recent scandal within the marijuana industry, CannTrust  (TSX:TRST)(NYSE:CTST) has become a headline focus over the last two weeks.

The company is under fire after Health Canada’s audit, where they discovered five unlicensed rooms in its Niagara Facility where CannTrust had been growing marijuana.

The company now has a significant quantity of its cannabis inventory on hold while Health Canada probes further into the matter and reviews whether CannTrust should lose its license. Similar to a series of falling dominos, the bad news broke out again and again, sending shares tumbling.

Whether you realize it or not, the marijuana industry is a big-money business. Although "only" $10.9 billion in legal sales were recognized in global licensed cannabis stores last year, we know that tens of billions of dollars in sales are occurring in the black market. As more and more countries legalize, it provides an opportunity for consumers to be moved from illicit to legal channels.

It’s a scorching-hot summer with record-high temperatures being recorded around the world. But don’t tell that to weed stock investors, who’ve been left out in the cold after a series of disappointing earnings reports and regulatory scandals. In the past two months, all major producers have seen their share prices fall, while marijuana stocks as a class are down about 11%.

With that said, the weed industry’s current woes aren’t affecting all stocks equally. While some are way down, others are still up for the year, and many are actually in fairly good shape compared to where they were last fall. However, there are definitely some major weed producers that are struggling right now. The following are two you can consider selling in August.

The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC) is getting ready for the second wave of cannabis legalization, planning renovations to its 12 cannabis retail stores that opened less than a year ago in preparation for selling topicals, edibles and beverages.

The final cost of renovations—which will include new display cabinets, additional counters and lighting, as well as installing refrigeration units to accommodate the new products—will depend on analysis of the responses from store operators, Beverley Ware, communications advisor for NSLC , told The GrowthOp. That said, Ware notes the current cost estimate is in the ballpark of $3 million to be compliant for selling edibles.

Karen Hamilton was No. 1 in line at Weedology, Ontario’s first marijuana retailer, when the doors opened for sales Friday. 

David Schelhorn was second. 

Hamilton is a physician, and used to practice medicine in Seattle. She recommended medical marijuana to her patients suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome and saw good results.  

“That’s why I’m really big on this for veterans,” she said.“That’s why I want to get it legal in Idaho.” 

Schelhorn, a drywaller from Idaho, has PTSD and is a recovering alcoholic, and he said that he credits marijuana with helping him stop drinking for the past 23 years. 

“This is a plant,” Schelhorn, said as he stood in line next to Hamilton. “God gave it to us for all of these reasons.”