Week in Weed: David Beckham, Wiz Khalifa feel the brunt of restrictive social media policies, and how this Ontario town is tackling cannabis stigma

HEXO Corp. was founded by two entrepreneurs, who, as the story goes, “convinced their mother-in-law and ‘turned $35,000 investment into a billion-dollar cannabis company.'”

Canadian cannabis brand Coterie is dropping a limited-edition apparel collection. Founded by Patrick and Nader Marzouk, owners of popular Toronto bar Regulars, the brand’s ethos is about celebrating community and shared connections. Their new capsule collection is inspired by Coterie’s seven “purpose pillars”: arts, community, athletics, hospitality, entertainment, charity, and beauty. A different T-shirt for each pillar, designed by local artists, will drop on a weekly basis, beginning with ‘Arts’ this Friday, Feb. 25.

Hempsana Holdings Ltd. has received its medical sales license from Health Canada which provides the company the ability to sell cannabis products directly to medical patients across Canada. (Click here for Benzinga article)

On February 4, 2022, the company received the amendment to their sales license marking another important milestone, enabling the sale of all products directly to medical consumers.

The Canadian medical cannabis market has approximately 300,000 patients with an average prescription of 2 grams per day and accounted for over $400 million in sales for 2021.

Canada’s #1 cannabis conference and trade show returns to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, May 12-15, 2022, complete with signature surprises and a-ha! moments

Lift&Co. Expo, Canada’s no. 1 cannabis conference and trade show, returns to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, May 12-15, 2022, delivering expert insights and education, as well as the ultimate in business-building networking, and an expo floor showcasing hundreds of products, services, and cannabis industry innovations.

All this, plus the uniquely irresistible experience that keeps thousands of cannabis producers, growers, investors, movers, shakers and trailblazers buzzing – to the tune of 15 million-plus social media impressions (and counting).

From Canada's number one producer of edibles, Jewels Cannabis Tarts offer a convenient microdose option made with real fruit.

To get traction in a legal pot industry that’s overwhelmingly white and male, Mississauga entrepreneur Omar Ali first had to go by a different name.

Omar Ali found out the hard way that if he wanted to succeed as a licensed Ontario pot producer and seller, he might have to go by a different name.

After several applications for permits, municipal approvals and financing for his pot production company fell on deaf ears, Ali, 39, started to feel as if a stigma attached to his name was holding him back. So he decided to switch strategies, and started adopting his wife’s more French-sounding surname: Monpetit.

People were more receptive to Michael Monpetit, he said.

One of the Toronto locations of a small group of cannabis stores has permanently closed, and it may be a sign more are facing the same fate as the city reaches a saturation point.

According to the latest stats, Toronto now has more than 200 cannabis stores. About a dozen have opened every month since the start of last year.

Whereas before cannabis was legalized pot stores were not a common part of the landscape, now you can barely walk a block in Toronto without running into a handful of them.

It's gotten so saturated, independently-owned weed shops are now actively trying to be acquired by the major chains. 

Others have started to close under-performing locations.

The Online Dispensary Canada’s team works hard to ensure a variety of fresh weed and marijuana strains, concentrates, and edibles are available to its clients across the globe. They offer security to their clients when shipping their products via mail. When clients’ shipping orders are lost by Canada Post, the Online Marijuana Dispensary team reships a new product at no extra expense. The company thrives on producing top products in the market, and they refund clients who are not satisfied with their purchase because they are value and quality-driven.

Pricing for cannabis-related directors and officers (D&O) insurance is trending downward, but only relative to the rest of the market, said an insurance brokerage executive.

“When cannabis was first legalized in Canada, you had a handful of carriers that [offered] coverage,” said Isaac Bock, managing director at AlphaRoot, a New York City brokerage focused exclusively on the cannabis, hemp and cannabidiol industries.

“A lot of those bore the brunt of all the claims activity early on. I think that led to some of the inflated premiums that a lot of these cannabis companies feel that they spend for coverage.”

According to a Deloitte Canada report, since Canada has legalized recreational cannabis in 2018, the industry has contributed $43.5 Billion To Canada's National GDP.

The industry has generated $11 billion in sales nationwide and made $29 billion in capital expenditure. Furthermore, the adult-use recreational cannabis industry has created 98,000 jobs and put $15.1 billion into government coffer. 

The report shows that the industry adds around $1.09 to Canada's GDP for every dollar for revenue and capital expenditure. The cannabis sector sustains around four jobs for every million dollars in revenue.