Vancouver-based businesses were able to show off their products at a trade show aimed at promoting pot products over the weekend. The show, attended by nearly 100 businesses, also served as an opportunity for entrepreneurs to learn about the multi-billion dollar industry.

Recreational marijuana will be legal in Canada on October 17. Leading up to that date, there has been a swell in interest in the industry. “Right now is the time for cannabis industry,” said Amir Ahani, the owner of a tech firm that develops point of sale, or POS systems for cannabis companies.

Alcohol in the front, 70 strains in the back.

The Canadian province of Nova Scotia will soon become the only known place in the world with combined liquor-cannabis retailers. The twelve stores are set to open on October 17, the official launch date for Canada’s recreational market. 

The retail combination will run through the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC), the province’s government-subsidized alcohol retailer. The NSLC will also be selling cannabis separately through an online e-commerce platform.

More than 30,000 people cross the U.S.-Canadian border in Blaine, Washington, every day. For most, it's a trouble-free experience but for some Canadian business people, that seems to be changing. 

Sam Znaimer is a Vancouver, Canada-based venture capitalist who has been investing in everything from tech to telecommunications for more than 30 years. Recently, he put more than $100,000 into legal American cannabis companies. In May, when he attempted to drive across the border, he was flagged for a secondary inspection and questioned for four hours.

Three illegal medical marijuana dispensaries have closed down after intervention from the Fredericton Police.

On July 4, the force issued notices of enforcement to HBB Medical, King Cana and Buddy's medical marijuana dispensaries ordering them to close within 14 business days.

The decision to seek the closure of the dispensaries this way — by giving them time to close or possible risk a raid —  was made with police staffing in mind, said Insp, Kimberly Quartermain of the Fredericton police.

She said the force has been dealing with other criminal matters that require a lot of officers, and the force wanted to make sure it wasn't spread too thin.

Across the country, calls for the federal government to decriminalize illicit drugs for personal use continue to ramp up. This week, the Toronto board of health and Kingston-area health officials added their voices to the fray.

Health-care advocates want to refocus Canada’s approach to drug use so it’s treated as a health issue rather than a criminal one, especially in light of the country’s raging opioid crisis. Deaths from opioid overdoses hit a record high last year: nearly 4,000.

On the shores of Gimli, Man., a popular beach town about an hour north of Winnipeg, sits a tall, bearded statue of a Viking wielding an axe. It commemorates Gimli’s history as an Icelandic settlement, the centre of a region that became known as New Iceland in 1875 and is still the largest harbour on Lake Winnipeg.

These days, the lakeside community of more than 2,000 people is known as a summer party hub for Manitoban tourists and cottagers. And not far from its famous monument, Crown Royal whisky is produced and distributed all over the world—a celebrated town fixture since 1939.

All this to say: Gimli is a fun place.

City council has rejected a major greenhouse expansion request from one of Canada's fastest-growing medical marijuana companies — and sparked an inevitable legal appeal.

Councillors voted 9-4 against a city planner-supported application by The Green Organic Dutchman to build a 150,000-square-foot greenhouse on Jerseyville Road in Ancaster, spurring a smattering of applause from a small group of area residents in the council chambers.

The city reconfirmed a controversial maximum size limit of 24,000 square feet for medical pot facilities just weeks ago, a point made by several councillors who opposed the exception request.

Charges and convictions for cannabis-related crimes have dropped by more than half over the past year in Canada. However, those rates vary significantly across the country, raising concerns about the uneven application of justice ahead of legalization on October 17.

According to an analysis conducted by The Logic of Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) data obtained via access to information requests, there were 5,594 charges for possession of cannabis in 2017-2018, compared with 11,818 charges in 2016-2017. Similarly, possession convictions fell by more than half over the same period, from 2,515 to 1,041.

ALBERTA -- City council in Lacombe has given first reading to the community’s first smoking bylaw, one with heavy restrictions on where tobacco and cannabis can be consumed in public.

The proposed bylaw prohibits cannabis smoking, vaping or consumption in any public place – including parks, trails and playgrounds – as well as private property frequented by residents (business or mall parking lots, for example).

Tobacco smoking would be allowed in parking lots provided a person is at least 10 metres from any doorway.

The Quebec government wants Canada’s agriculture ministers to talk about pot when they meet for their annual federal-provincial-territorial meeting in Vancouver next week.

In an email, Christine Harvey, press secretary for Quebec’s Agriculture Minister Laurent Lessard said Quebec officials have requested cannabis be added to the meeting’s agenda.

The Quebec government also wants to talk about the management of health emergencies when ministers meet, Harvey said.

Canada’s agriculture ministers are set to meet in British Columbia July 18-20, three months before Canadians will legally be allowed to consume marijuana. Lessard is expected to attend the annual meeting.