When marijuana dispensaries started popping up with greater frequency around Vancouver a few years ago, some sections of the city began to resemble Amsterdam. On Broadway, West 4th Avenue, and Granville Street, for example, three or more storefronts have established themselves on single blocks.

September 22, 2015 —  In a special InvestorIntel interview, Publisher Tracy Weslosky, speaks with Terry Booth, President, CEO and Director of Aurora Cannabis Inc. (CSE: ACB | OTCQB: ACBFF) on the two new Board members and securing the former executive director of the CMCIA for the Aurora management team. They also discuss how Aurora is positioned as rising leaders in the marihuana sector and what the Allard decision and elections will mean to the overall industry.

Now that the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) have been implemented for a few years, many of us are familiar with the quality assurance requirements set forth by Health Canada for licensed producers (LPs). What are not commonly discussed are the benefits and drawbacks of these requirements in relation to the different growing environments used by different licensed producers. In addition to these issues, I will look at the options LPs have to ensure that what they produce meets these requirements. In contrast, I will compare the environments which many medical Cannabis producers operating under different or zero regulations in different locations face.

The head of a marijuana dispensary raided in July says he hopes the related charges are resolved quickly, but he’s prepared to fight a lengthy court battle.

“We’ll go to the Supreme Court if we have to,” Aaron Bott said outside the courthouse Tuesday where a crowd of supporters stood nearby after his first appearance on a trafficking charge. “We’re a little bit confused on why we have to defend ourselves. We’re not criminals.”

In July, Bott was taken by surprise when officers from the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams showed up at 4121 118th Ave., the marijuana supplier his family has run for more than a decade.

By Paul Armentano / NORML

Scientific discoveries are published almost daily rebuking the federal government’s contention that cannabis is a highly dangerous substance lacking therapeutic efficacy. But most of these findings appear primarily in obscure, peer-reviewed journals and often go unnoticed by the major media and the general public. Here are five new cannabis-centric studies that warrant mainstream attention. 

Early Onset Pot Use Isn’t Associated With Adverse Outcomes in Adulthood

A worker walks on the site of greenhouses under construction in Maple Ridge, B.C. Owners of the greenhouse have applied to Health Canada to grow medical marijuana at the facility.
(DARRYL DYCK For The Globe and Mail)

When Craig Speirs was first elected as a councillor in the quasi-rural community of Maple Ridge five terms ago, marijuana was a minor issue the police dealt with.

Now, Mr. Speirs and his fellow councillors have nine well-capitalized businesses applying to start marijuana-production facilities in their city. Two are already in operation, even though they do not have Health Canada permits and are technically illegal.

By Julia Wright

You're almost finished a half-marathon. Pulse pounding in your ears. Knees aching. Running isn't for quitters.

But today is unusually easy: you're focused on the cool breeze on your arms, the golden late-September sun reflecting off the lake, and the ice-cold beer you're going to enjoy. Forget the chaos that's happening in your body.

Runner's high? Yes, totally. But the reason you feel so fantastic today is also due, at least in part, to the cannabis you consumed an hour before lacing up. 

Former prosecutor believes municipalities shouldn't wait for federal government for pot approval

B.C. could legalize marijuana on its own without federal approval, believes a former prosecutor that helped legalize pot south of the border in 2012. 

Marijuana falls under federal jurisdiction in Canada, but with some creativity local politicians can push from the bottom up for change, says Tonia Winchester the former deputy campaign director for Yes on I-502.

With the steamrolling legalization effort of Cannabis sativa, there have been a lot of discussion toward the production of extracts. Here is a little primer of what’s what in the marvelous world of extract production. Each of those will be the focus of a small post with more information.

Solvent extraction

As marijuana emerges as a mainstream treatment, employers will need to figure out how to deal with the use of medical pot in the workplace.

As far as the law goes, there’s no need for employers to overhaul existing policies — assuming, of course, an employer has already put rules in place that deal with the use of other prescription drugs that might impair mental capacity. From a legal perspective, all that’s really happening is that medical marijuana is taking its place along side pain killers and other powerful drugs doctors have been legally prescribing for years.