Canadians seem to be easing off marijuana a bit, at least as far as the latest sales figures reveal. On Friday, Statistics Canada released its national retail sales data for April, revealing that purchases from licensed marijuana stores fell slightly (by 1%) on a month-over-month basis to land at around 180 million Canadian dollars ($132 million).

That reversed the previous month's trend, in which sales rose by nearly 20%. This can largely be attributed to stockpiling behavior stemming from the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus outbreak that necessitated "stay in place" measures.

A class-action lawsuit filed in Calgary against cannabis companies claims the THC and CBD levels in their medicinal and recreational cannabis products differed from what was represented on packaging.

According to the statement of claim filed at the Judicial Centre of Calgary on Tuesday, June 16, the companies allegedly sold cannabis products to Canadian consumers with drastically different THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) or CBD (cannabidiol) levels than advertised on the label.

The defendants named in the lawsuit are:

Aurora Cannabis Inc. says co-founder Steve Dobler will retire as president and as a director of the company at the end of the month.

Dobler has held the roles at the cannabis company since December 2014.

With the retirement of Dobler, the board will have nine directors.

The move follows the departure of founder Terry Booth, who stepped down as chief executive earlier this year.

Aurora announced in February that it was taking $1 billion in writedowns and would lay off 500 employees as part of a shakeup to its spending plans.

anadian cannabis licence holders could be up for some financial relief from the federal government. 

Over the weekend, Health Canada said due to Covid-19 it was considering letting LHs defer paying their 2020–2021 annual fees. The deferral would apply to anyone with a licence issued before April 1, 2020. 

The nondescript storefront in the 1100-block of Kingsway has paper covering all of its windows except for a neon “open” sign that is still illuminated just before 11 p.m. on a Sunday.

The yellow awning overhead suggests the building houses an auto repair shop.

But just inside the front door is another sign — King Canna.

It is one of several illegal cannabis stores still operating in Vancouver more than 18 months after marijuana was legalized in Canada. And even though provincial regulators seized products at King Canna on May 27, it remained open for business this week.

The stores aren’t the only sign that black market cannabis is still a hot commodity in B.C.

Cannabis drinks are one of the more exciting new products on the Canadian market. With promises of fast-acting edibles and low, cumulative doses — brought to you by celebrity stoners, no less — the idea is that infused drinks could compete with booze for your household budget.

But amidst the excitement, industry insiders are scratching their heads at “cannabis equivalency factors,” which are particularly noticeable when it comes to edibles, such as drinks.

Canadian cannabis company Tilray has been hit by yet another lawsuit, this time over the alleged misleading of shareholders and insider trading. 

According to Marijuana Business Daily, the new lawsuit was filed by Tilray shareholder Lee Morgan on June 5 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

The lawsuit, which targets Tilray’s CEO Brandon Kennedy, former Chief Financial Officer Mark Castaneda and others in Tilray’s board, alleges that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties in connection to the long-term revenue-sharing agreement between Tilray and Authentic Brands Group (ABG).

A long-desired set of clinical practice guidelines for the use of cannabis-based medicines is being developed, which should help resolve a wide knowledge gap among medical professionals.

Clear battle lines remain drawn across the mycorrhizae of the Canadian weed industry.

So far, the government’s approach has largely been to handcuff both sides: It raids illicit dispensaries and charges illegal growers, while maintaining high barriers to starting licit businesses and limiting the ability of companies to distinguish their brands via advertising.

Conversations around the ineffectiveness of enforcement are gaining more momentum in the most recent sociopolitical discourse — where the war on drugs has been pointed to as a key contributor to systemic racism and police brutality — but the dialogue surrounding the need for companies to be able to better market to consumers had been picking up speed for months.

In December, New Brunswick-based producer Zenabis recalled a line of “CBD Light” gel caps, labelled as containing six milligrams of CBD per capsule, with no THC. It turns out, they were actually THC gel caps with no CBD whatsoever. 

Zenabis isn’t the only producer to run into labelling issues. Last September, Aurora Cannabis recalled it’s Blue Dream Sativa which had been sold through the Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC). The label said the flower contained 19.1 per cent total THC, but the correct value was 15.7 per cent. More than 3,000 units were sold before the product was recalled.