If everything goes according to plan, Brian Bain will convert his Saskatoon market garden to a marijuana nursery by next year. 

He said it's a matter of economics.

"All of a sudden, you have a crop that comes along, that you can pay your employees better, you can pay yourself better and the business itself will do better," he told CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning. "It's really hard not to make that switch."

Right now, Bain grows herbs like mint, chives, dill and basil and sells them to grocery stores across western Canada. He plans to convert his hydroponic garden to a nursery that will sell live pot plants to licensed stores. 

Bain said margins in the produce business are tight and it can be difficult to make money.

As of Saturday, anyone caught driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs can have their licence suspended indefinitely and their vehicle seized for up to 60 days.

The harsher penalties for impaired drivers were passed by the Saskatchewan government this spring and come into effect Sept. 1.

The federal government recently passed legislation creating Criminal Code charges for driving while under the influence of marijuana. The new provincial legislation outlines the consequences drivers will face under the provincial Traffic Safety Act for committing those offences.

Kevin Tindall does not smoke pot.

But the corporate accountant in Saskatoon and his business partners need at least 10 people in Swift Current, Sask., who can explain marijuana to new customers and keep Tindall's downtown cannabis store rolling once recreational marijuana use becomes legal on Oct. 17.

"It's going to be based on personality and their ability to sell," said Tindall, who spent several years running a Boston Pizza in Swift Current before he won one of the province's 51 permits to retail pot.

"We're looking forward to being open well before the legalization date just for information purposes," Tindall said. "I think this industry's going to be huge."

High Tide Ventures Inc. ("High Tide" or the "Company") today announced that it has recently entered into multiple non-binding memorandums of understanding ("MOUs") to supply the Saskatchewan market on a wholesale basis for a combined total of up to 9,500 kilograms of cannabis products over the next year, as available.  High Tide is in the process of becoming a licensed wholesaler of cannabis products in the province of Saskatchewan.  The MOUs are with FV Pharma Inc. ("FV Pharma"), Maple Leaf Green World Inc. ("Maple Leaf"), Sundial Growers Inc. ("Sundial") and The Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc. ("Supreme").

The Saskatchewan government has laid down ground rules for how marijuana can be used after legalization this fall.

Eight offences were listed in a government release issued on July 4, each issuing fines and penalties for improper marijuana usage. In some cases, the laws are similar to provincial decrees already in place for alcohol.

The largest fine, a $2,250 ticket, will be issued if an employee with a retail marijuana location either does not demand proof of age for a customer who appears underage or sells marijuana to a minor.

Another $1,000 ticket will be issued to anyone caught consuming marijuana at a school or childcare location. Any person caught selling or giving marijuana to a persun under the minimum age of 19 will face a $750 fine.

As the countdown to cannabis legalization creeps closer and closer, so too do the questions about where you be will be able to consume it.

Less than a week ago, the provincial government announced the type of fines a person would face for the improper use of recreational marijuana — a range of anywhere from $200 to $2,250 for violations once weed is legalized in October.

The Saskatchewan government on Wednesday unveiled its fine structure around the sale and use of recreational marijuana, which will soon be legal. 

"These new regulations that apply to cannabis are similar to current rules regarding alcohol," the government said in a news release.

The fines will range from $200 to $2,250.

The fines include:

Pat Warnecke didn’t hold out much hope he would be selected in the Saskatchewan government’s cannabis retail licence process.

“Nowhere in the RFP (request for proposals) did I ever see that if you had anything to do with the cannabis industry before, or if you had anything to do with a dispensary, that you’re not eligible for the system or not eligible to apply,” said Warnecke, owner of Best Buds Society, which operated cannabis dispensaries in Regina and Saskatoon.

“It doesn’t look like anybody who was part of any dispensary got into any of these here.”

Warnecke believes the government has done the province a disservice by driving away cannabis industry leaders.

"Now what?"

That's what Torrance Aitken remembers thinking when he found out he'd won one of Saskatchewan's 51 coveted retail cannabis permits.

Four weeks later, there are still some things about the new legal pot industry that Aitken, a 34-year-old oil and gas well tester in Weyburn, Sask., can only guess at.

"I really don't have any idea how it will go," he said Wednesday. 

But Aitken didn't want to miss out on what he saw as a unique business opportunity.

The Saskatchewan government was only allowing two pot shops to operate in Weyburn, population 10,870.

Torrance Aitken, a Weyburn-area oil and gas well tester who won one of Weyburn's two pot permits, says he'll operate both businesses simultaneously. (Torrance Aitken)

Any enthusiasm to pass amendments to the current smoking bylaw to include approaches on how to deal with recreational cannabis appears to have gone up in smoke.

At least, for the time being.

Coun. Deanna Lennox put forward a motion during the June 12 regular city council meeting to put off any decision making on the current smoking bylaw until August. The Fort, like many municipalities, has been working to figure out how to tackle marijuana once it becomes legalized in Canada.