When I see the youthful curiosity in the Gwen Repetski’s glistening eyes, I feel a fluttering in my heart along with a sensation of lightness. They make me want to dance.

VANCOUVER -- Local governments in British Columbia have declared they have the authority to licence medical marijuana dispensaries, defying the federal government's opposition to regulation of the illegal stores.

Delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention voted in favour of a resolution endorsing the position that they have the power to regulate pot dispensaries.

The resolution states that an ongoing court challenge of Ottawa's medical marijuana laws has created uncertainty while pot shops proliferate and cause problems in B.C.

Vancouver Coun. Heather Deal said the vote sends a strong message to the federal government, which has not provided reasonable legal access to medical marijuana despite court rulings requiring them to do so.

A Vancouver marijuana dispensary is offering some unusual perks in an effort to get voters to cast a ballot for the Oct. 19 federal election — a chance to see American rapper Snoop Dogg perform, and a shot at winning free pot.

Danny Kresnyak said he's spearheading Eden Medicinal Society's get-out-the-vote campaign because he believes marijuana policy is a federal election issue.

"We're going to have people hitting the street with hand bills; there's going to be posters up," said  Kresnyak.

Eden Medicinal Society is offering two prizes as a voting incentive:

Packets of cannabis seeds line the shelves of legal grow shops in Madrid. Many carry labels reporting the percentage of sativa and indica, two types of cannabis. Breeders often label plants that produce a more exciting high as sativa and plants that provide a more mellow feeling as indica, suggesting that cross-breeding tailors that buzz. The conceit is widespread. Botanist Jonathan Page at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, says he sees the same at local grow shops.

A U.S. drug company is taking the Canadian government to court for its attempt to lower the price of what has been called the world's most expensive drug.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals has filed a motion in Federal Court, arguing that Canada's drug price watchdog has no authority to force the company to lower its price for Soliris.

'This is the single greatest threat to pricing of drugs in Canada ever.'- Amir Attaran, health law expert

The new law is going to force nearly all medical marijuana dispensaries in our area to close their doors if they don’t reapply for a recreational license.

Washington state on Wednesday began the process of aligning the medical marijuana market with the existing recreational market for cannabis. Existing recreational marijuana stores will be able to apply for an endorsement to sell medical marijuana if they are interested.

Lawsuits over whether or not the treatment was a wise choice could put doctors’ medical certification in jeopardy, especially with how little is known about marijuana-related side effects.

New legislation in Lansing is trying to add more regulation to medical marijuana in Michigan.

The annual meeting of the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS) is a highly unusual scientific conference. It has been closed to all media since its inception 25 years ago, lending an air of mystery to the gathering of researchers who study the unique chemicals found in cannabis.

In a relaxation of the organization's long-standing policy, ICRS permitted Nature reporters to attend this year's conference, which was hosted by Acadia University in the tiny Canadian town of Wolfville, Nova Scotia. The tight-knit group of researchers are bound together by onerous government restrictions on their subject, and by their sufferance of lingering suspicions from other scientists that they are a bunch of hippies trying to get an illicit drug legalized.

Class actions continue to be at the forefront of the development of privacy rights. Recently, the novel tort of “publicity given to private life” was permitted to proceed as a cause of action in the class proceeding John Doe and Suzie Jones v. Her Majesty the Queen.[1] This latest privacy class action certification decision not only recognizes a novel form of privacy tort but also demonstrates how the courts find class actions a good vehicle for the prosecution of privacy breaches.

Employment law around doctor-prescribed cannabis is evolving, and businesses must adapt accordingly

As medical marijuana gains traction as a treatment option for a host of conditions including chronic pain and other conditions, Canadian employers could find themselves grappling with a sticky issue.