People in Canada are cheering, enduring long lines and honking their car horns in support as the country's first marijuana dispensaries open their doors Wednesday.

Some of the provinces don’t have nearly enough planned cannabis retail locations, especially the provinces in Atlantic Canada.

Canada’s medical marijuana system has been set up a long time ago when keeping medical cannabis out of the hands of recreational users, or even worse kids was the priority for the governments.

Some nearly 20 years later, we are at the forefront of Canada’s cannabis industry, with the recreational market about to open in just 5 weeks.

While some of the provinces further West were more open towards the idea of legalizing recreational cannabis, Atlantic provinces were mostly reserved in regards to that idea.

If you’ve driven past the Torbay Road Mall recently, you may have noticed that one of those big black roadside signs suggests that medical marijuana prescriptions are available inside at Home Grown Hydroponic and Indoor Garden Centre.

Technically speaking, the prescriptions are not available inside — there’s no doctor or naturopath hanging out in the back room with a pad ready to dole out scripts for high-potency cannabis strains.

Future Farm Technologies Inc. (the “Company” or “Future Farm”) (CSE: FFT) (OTCQX: FFRMF) is pleased to announce that its cannabis breeding and in vitro propagation business segment (a joint venture with Rahan Meristem and CEPG, the “JV”) is vetting top candidates to fulfill the lead scientist role for its state of the art laboratory in St. John’s, Newfoundland. 

The Maritimes budding marijuana industry is showing signs of growth this weekend in New Brunswick.

One of the region’s big players is expanding its workforce, and at the same time, industry leaders from around the world will soon be arriving for an international meeting on the future of the business.

Organigram already has close to 300 employees at its rapidly expanding facility in Moncton, and that number is poised to grow even larger.

“We’re looking for approximately another 100 people, and that’s an immediate need, so this won’t be our last job fair,” says Jeff Purcell, Organigram’s Vice President of Operations.

That's where stores like the Greenhouse come in, though they can't sell the plants themselves.

When federal cannabis legalization comes into effect some time this summer, individuals will be allowed to grow up to four plants for personal use. In the meantime, Shawn Dolter — owner of the Greenhouse in Little Rapids — is fielding a lot of questions from curious, and somewhat sheepish, would-be small-scale pot farmers.

"We're all about do-it-yourself," Dolter told the Corner Brook Morning Show. 

"Basically, we want to make sure that they can grow the best plant possible in their own home environment."

Operation and security will adhere to the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations.

Municipal Affairs and Environment Minister Andrew Parsons will have just over a month to make a decision on a Clarenville medical marijuana facility proposed by Ralph Duffitt.

According to a bulletin issued by the Department of Municipal Affairs and Environment today, June 7, the project has been registered for an environmental assessment.

As previously reported by The Packet, the Clarenville businessman has filed an application with Health Canada for a license to grow and produce medical marijuana at 72 Marine Dr.

Of the 104 existing Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) licences in Canada, over 75 per cent are in either Ontario or British Columbia.
This means more than 50 per cent of Canadians don’t have access to locally produced cannabis products. With recreational cannabis legalization looming later this year, that could be viewed as a problem.

But for Biome Grow, an arm of Toronto-based Jacob Capital Management, it represents an opportunity in Atlantic Canada.

“We realized pretty early on … that being local will afford you certain privileges which supplying product out of Ontario will not,” says Khurram Malik, a Jacob Capital partner and its head of research. “What we like to do is build local ecosystems in the provinces we are in.

Somewhat overlooked in the spate of media coverage and conversations about Canada’s nascent cannabis industry is the role and responsibility of corporate Canada.

As the country moves closer to legalizing the recreational use of cannabis products later this year, acquisitions, mergers and consolidations leading to massive valuations are an almost daily occurrence.

“It’s an exciting time, but it’s a nerve wracking time,” said Mitchell Osak, managing director of Grant Thornton’s strategic advisory services practice.

“All the rules have yet to be written. We don’t really know what’s going to happen.”

Lawyer Blair Pritchett leading marijuana in the workplace seminar in St. John's.

In anticipation of marijuana becoming legal across Newfoundland and Labrador, and in the rest of Canada, employers still have many unanswered questions.

Some of them have been turning to lawyer Blair Pritchett, a partner at McInnes Cooper in St. John's.

He led a half day seminar on Tuesday at Memorial University to brief them about what they'll have to look out for when pot is legalized. 

"I think the biggest issue is going to be …  the issue of residual intoxication," said Pritchett in an interview with CBC Radio's On the Go.