A series of feisty exchanges marked Thursday night's debate on the economy, as the three federal leaders launched pointed attacks on each other's plans on a range of issues, including jobs, energy, deficits and infrastructure.

This second debate, certainly a higher energy affair than the first, saw Conservative Leader Stephen Harper on the defensive during attacks from NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, who claimed his economic policies have resulted in hundreds of thousands of job losses and stagnant economic growth.

But with the race so close, Trudeau and Mulcair also didn't hold back from slamming each other.

A study led by a Dalhousie researcher is providing a clearer picture of the evolutionary history and genetic organization of cannabis. It's a step that could have significant agricultural, medical and legal implications for a crop whose importance in health and other fields continues to grow.

“The cultivation of hemp and marijuana represent significant global industries, but our understanding of them lags far behind our understanding of similarly valuable agricultural crops,” says Sean Myles, assistant professor in the Faculty of Agriculture at Dalhousie and Canada Research Chair in Agricultural Genetic Diversity.  

Tweed Marijuana Inc. is officially renaming itself Canopy Growth Corp. as it prepares for its next leg of growth after a landmark acquisition.

Shareholders approved the name change at the company’s annual meeting in Toronto on Thursday. In explaining the move, chairman and chief executive Bruce Linton noted the company has two established brands (Tweed and Bedrocan) in the medical marijuana space. The new name reflects the fact that the parent company will continue to expand into new markets and release new products such as oils.

“We want to dominate (the industry),” Linton told investors.

It seems as though Colorado is rolling in the green, thanks to legalized marijuana. 

The state is enjoying a steady flow of dough (and presumably cookie dough sales) since it made pot legal for recreational use in 2012 – though it wasn’t distributed commercially until 2014. 

Reports now show it’s been a good move for Colorado, which has racked in $70 million in marijuana taxes between July 2014 and June 2015. That’s significantly more than what the state’s alcohol-specific taxes brought in during the same time period – $42 million.

On Wednesday, Colorado showed its appreciation for pot users by instating a day long “tax holiday,” where the substance in its many forms could be purchased tax-free.

A veteran's centre in Cape Breton is now helping about 80 people access medical marijuana, but many of them have not served in the military.

The Marijuana for Trauma Inc. centre opened in Sydney in June. The primary focus was to help veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, but volunteer Joe MacGillivray says the patient list is growing beyond that.

"We have cancer patients that are coming through, people that are in constant pain," he said. "People that just had surgeries."

He says two patients, for instance, had operations on their backs and were on heavy pain medication, but were searching for alternatives to drugs such as Oxycontin and Dilaudid.

VANCOUVER - Parents of a severely ill baby girl in British Columbia say they will not give up their fight to gain full custody and treat her with cannabis oil, despite dropping court action that sought greater control of her care.

A lawyer for Justin Pierce and Michelle Arnold withdrew the application on Wednesday because five-month-old Mary Jane Pierce has been breathing without a ventilator for two weeks.

But the couple still hope to show they deserve full custody and the right to give her the oil at an upcoming protection hearing. The Ministry of Children and Family Development obtained temporary custody in August and will hold a hearing to determine whether to make it permanent.

Anti-pot shop crusader alleges police not enforcing laws against illegal marijuana dispensaries

The Vancouver Police Department has recommended the Vancouver Police Board dismiss a complaint from an anti-pot shop crusader accusing police of failing to shut down the city’s 100 or so illegal marijuana dispensaries.

In a 15-page report that goes before the board Thursday, Deputy Chief Doug LePard provided a detailed analysis of the complaint from Pamela McColl of Smart Approaches to Marijuana Canada and outlined why the majority of dispensaries continue to operate without police interference.

5-month-old baby with cerebral palsy remains in BC Women's Hospital

Parents of a severely ill baby girl in care at BC Women's Hospital in Vancouver are no longer seeking the right to treat her with cannabis oil.

Justin Pierce and Michelle Arnold have withdrawn their court application asking for greater control of treatment for their five-month-old, Mary Jane Pierce, who has cerebral palsy.

Arnold and Pierce both have epilepsy, and take cannabis oil, and they believed the oil could help their daughter. 

They allege that officials from the Ministry of Children and Family Development pressured them into giving up custody of their baby.

Bedrocan Canada and its sister company Tweed just announced the launch of the EQUAL (Evaluation QUAlity of Life) study. The clinical research initiative is a multi-centre, non-interventional, un-blinded study to evaluate quality of life in Canadian patients treated with medical cannabis. The company-sponsored study will evaluate patients who use Bedrocan and Tweed strains of cannabis to help manage symptoms of a range of chronic health conditions, and the resulting data will be submitted for publication by a peer-reviewed medical journal. To ensure patient privacy, all data collected will be anonymized and stored in a secure electronic database.

On Sept. 20, cities in Canada and the U.S. will hold the first Psilocybin Mushroom Day, as psychedelic drugs shed their ’60s stigma and researchers test their possible health benefits.