The RCMP had no data to back up their claims that medical marijuana grow operations under Canada’s old licensing system were inherently dangerous to producers and magnets for violent thieves and organized criminals, an expert told the Federal Court Thursday.

CALGARY –Aurora Marijuana’s cannabis production facility, the province’s first production centre for medical marijuana, will start growing plants in about a week.

“We’ve just received our licence from Health Canada and we’re presently obtaining our starting materials, so within seven days we’ll be starting to grow cannabis,” explained Aurora Marijuana CEO Terry Booth during a tour of the facility, which is located on rural land near the Village of Cremona.

The facility is capable of producing up to 5,400 kilograms of medical marijuana each year and will grow 20 different strains.

Mississauga is set to become the first city in Canada to licence and regulate the production of medical marijuana.

“The federal government legalized these operations, but we’re the ones eventually responsible for where they’re located and the enforcement of them,” said Councillor Jim Tovey, after a committee vote on a new bylaw that passed Wednesday. Final approval will is expected to come when from full council by the end of March.

A staff report dated Feb. 18, 2015, indicated that no other city in Canada has made such a move, following the federal government’s transition in 2013 and 2014 to licence the private production of legal medical marihuana.

“It’s really a public safety issue,” Tovey said.

On February 28 some 75 tribal leaders from across the country met to discuss forming the first “Tribal Cannabis Association” at the Tulalip Resort Casino on the Tulalip Reservation in Washington State.

This followed a packed day on February 27 of “Tribal Marijuana Conference” presentations and panels with speakers as diverse as former U.S. Attorney Troy Eid (current chair of President Barack Obama’s National Indian Law and Order Commission) to the city attorneys of both Seattle and Boulder, Colorado, who gave in-depth overviews of how implementation of state laws legalizing marijuana possession and usage is proceeding in their respective cities.

Shaun Majumder travels across the border to investigate how one town has been changed by legalized marijuana, and comes back with his recommendation for Stephen Harper (Youtube video - click to watch).

Last month, the Globe and Mail ran an editorial questioning whether Health Canada's oversight of medical marijuana had "gone to pot". The piece outlines the history of medical marijuana legislation in Canada, the potential for profiteering by licensed producers, and takes Health Canada to task for the way they have handled the licensing process as well as for the difficulty the government agency seems to be having in regulating medical marijuana. The editorial would have been pretty much spot-on if it wasn't for a glaring error in the opening sentence: "Medical marijuana is a legal drug in Canada." It isn't.

Drugs 101

Everyone knows that marijuana is illegal. So why does Canada seem to be awash in pot? You can buy it openly in a surprising number of ways and places. The system the federal government set up to give people access to medical marijuana is broken. Could it be that something’s happening out there and no one told Prime Minister Stephen Harper? Mark Kelley exposes some real Pot Fiction.

Qualified patients to receive up to 30 grams of medical cannabis per month at no cost

Vaughan, ON February 24, 2015 – CannTrust Inc., a licensed producer and distributor of medical cannabis in Canada, today announced CannTrust Access, a comprehensive patient assistance program for medical cannabis compassionate use in Canada.

The CannTrust Access program is a Canadian first in medical cannabis programs and is available immediately to eligible Canadians whose health plans do not reimburse medical cannabis.

A constitutional challenge of Canada's new medical marijuana laws got underway Monday morning in Federal Court in Vancouver.

The case centres on whether patients can grow their own pot for medicinal purposes.

Last April new federal marijuana laws banned all home growing for medical purposes, meaning users would have to buy pot from licensed growers.

But four patients who grow their own marijuana challenged the new regulations in court, arguing licensed producers will inflate the price, making medical marijuana too costly.

The court heard testimony from Shawn Davey, who uses medical marijuana to alleviate chronic pain.

His lawyer John Conroy argued the new laws force patients like Davey to choose between liberty and health.

TORONTO, Feb. 23, 2015 /CNW/ - Members of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) today released CSA Staff Notice 51-342 Staff Review of Issuers Entering Into Medical Marijuana Business Opportunities, which summarizes the CSA's findings and disclosure expectations for reporting issuers contemplating involvement inCanada's medical marijuana industry.

The CSA's review aimed to determine if reporting issuers were meeting the requirements of National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations, in providing sufficient and balanced disclosure on their intent to enter the medical marijuana field.