With Canada poised to legalize recreational weed, companies are scrambling to amass customer insight and ready themselves for the onslaught of buyers projected to flood the marketplace. Thanks to prohibition, the North American cannabis landscape is the proverbial Swiss cheese of information—one of the biggest holes being the lack of consistent data focusing on the modern consumer.

The new bill could potentially cause more problems than it would solve.

There's little evidence that legalized marijuana poses a threat to public health and safety, and there may be benefits, says a new study from Canadian doctors and researchers.

The report, submitted to the Senate this week, outlines the positive and negative impacts legalization has had in other jurisdictions.

"It hasn't been a public health disaster or crisis yet, but there are some key areas that we need to watch," said Rebecca Haines-Saah, a public health specialist at the University of Calgary and one of the report's authors.

The federal government has promised to legalize recreational marijuana later this year under Bill C-45, which is expected to go to a final vote in the upper house Thursday.

In an effort to prevent people from getting criminal records, lawmakers in Canada are reviewing the laws regarding sharing marijuana.

The Canadian government has clarified the law regarding the social sharing of weed with minors. The Senate voted on Tuesday to approve an amendment to Bill C-45, Canada’s recreational cannabis legalization statute. The proposed law is also known as the Cannabis Act.

Never underestimate the appeal of swag – even the cheap stuff.

People might have heard the story from the early days of the Beatles, when manager Brian Epstein, as the group was rapidly gaining fame, sold the rights to merchandising to a clever American entrepreneur for a very small percentage of sales.

It proved a colossal financial misstep for Epstein and the Fab Four when, over the next several years of Beatlemania, gross sales of such merchandise far outstripped revenue from concert tickets and records. People of a certain vintage will remember back to the days of items that ran from Beatle boots and wigs down to buttons, hair spray, tin lunchboxes and four-packs of cards wrapped up with a stale stick of bubblegum.

Conservatives lost their best chance to stymie the Trudeau government’s plan to legalize recreational marijuana Wednesday after an eleventh-hour intervention by two ministers mollified the concerns of Indigenous senators.

The 11 members of the Senate’s Aboriginal Peoples’ committee, as well as some Indigenous senators not on the committee, had planned to support a Conservative amendment that would have indefinitely deferred implementation of Bill C-45, pending a report on government efforts to address the concerns of Aboriginal communities.

Beyond the beer tents and poutine trucks at last weekend's Field Trip music festival in Toronto, concertgoers got a taste of what many cannabis brands hope is a step towards the future of live music sponsorship.

A fair distance from the event's two stages, representatives for licensed producer Tweed Inc. were prepared to talk everything pot and pending legalization in Canada. They handed out free swag and plugged a contest for tickets to see Imagine Dragons in concert. Behind them, a social media photo opportunity drew adults and children alike to pose with a giant sign carrying an ambiguously suitable greeting: "Hi."

Legalizing cannabis could have been the greatest thing for our economy and environment, writes Mike Kidd.

For more 20 years I have been selling growing products. Peterborough Hydroponic Centre has catered to cannabis growing, inside or out. The large, the small, we have sold products to them all.

We also produce grow trays and reservoirs right here in Peterborough. I am a hometown boy, growing cannabis since I could drive. Growing great cannabis for the last 25 years (I am now 50), I consider myself an expert in the business.

There’s a strong likelihood that Canada’s Cannabis Act will get approved this summer, says GMP Securities’ Martin Landry, who in an update to clients on Tuesday said that Canada’s marijuana stocks should rally on news of the Senate passing Bill C-45, scheduled for third reading on June 7.

Landry says that on Monday, GMP met with representatives from Global Public Affairs, a firm which has been involved in Canada’s emerging cannabis space, who related that there is high likelihood that the Cannabis Act will receive Royal Assent (GPA gave it a roughly 85 per cent chance of success).

The indication from one of the successful applicants for a cannabis retail permit in North Battleford is they want to be ready to go as soon as possible.

That is the word from James Davey, president and CEO of Envirosafe Chemicals Canada Ltd., which was selected June 1 for one of North Battleford’s two cannabis retail permits by the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority.

The company has its headquarters in North Battleford. They will be retailing under the name Curativa Cannabis.

“Curativa Cannabis will be our marketing and trade name,” said Davey. A webpage, curativacannabis.com, is already up, which will provide some background of their plans for the product.