A Senate committee has passed more than two dozen amendments to the federal government’s cannabis legalization bill, including one that would allow provinces and territories to ban home-grown marijuana.

But the social affairs committee has refused to accept an amendment that would have prohibited home cultivation outright.

Bill C-45 would allow individuals to grow up to five plants in a single dwelling.

But Quebec and Manitoba have decided to prohibit home cultivation, setting up future legal challenges in which Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has said the federal legislation would prevail.

Marijuana dispensaries are sprouting in large numbers on Mohawk territory, while community rules are up in the air.

It’s a 24-hour, seven-day a week business at the Pot Shoppe on Tyendinaga Mohawk territory, east of Belleville, Ont.

The small, cabin-like store was busy during the Victoria Day long weekend.

At one point on Sunday, a male customer walked in to buy a gram of whatever he could get for $10 and asked about job opportunities.

Robert Fisher, who goes by his Mohawk name Tehonikonrathe, was minding the counter and told the man apologetically that he’s not the guy to talk to about jobs and then measured out the gram.

The customer then noticed a tomato plant near the counter next to some cannabis clones.

US border officials can and do ask Canadians if they have ever used marijuana.

Creston Town Council has received a heads-up about some important border implications for Canadians who have used marijuana or will use it when it becomes legal.

The Honourable Mobina Jaffer, a British Columbia representative in the Canadian Senate, has written to government leaders around the province, warning of potential dangers for her constituents.

“…our constituents will soon be faced with a series of issues at Canada’s border with the United States that could have them barred from crossing the border for life,” Jaffer wrote.

Canada is about to enter a new gold rush with many dreaming of striking it rich in the marijuana industry, says former British Columbia premier Mike Harcourt, who has staked his own claim in a medicinal marijuana company.

But Harcourt said Friday there will be plenty of losers during the rush as qualified and unqualified entrepreneurs search for marijuana wealth. 

Harcourt, 75, invoked the images of past gold-fever eras during a keynote address about marijuana therapy at the annual B.C. Pharmacy Association gathering in Victoria. He mentioned the once thriving B.C. gold-boom town of Barkerville and the Klondike gold rush that sent thousands of people to Yukon during the 1890s.

Leighton Smith is worried.

It might seem like a strange feeling for the operator of a pot shop to have with the clock ticking down to cannabis legalization in Canada, but the operator of Phyven Medicinal Cannabis Dispensary said he fears the City of Kamloops is setting local marijuana stores up for failure — potentially paving the way for larger out-of-town chain retailers to move into the market.

“It’s a guessing game,” Smith told KTW.

Chelsea Handler will join cannabis industry leaders in business, research, politics and culture from around the world for the 2018 World Cannabis Congress in Saint John, New Brunswick next month.

Handler is an American comedian, actress, writer, television host and producer. She hosted the late-night talk show Chelsea Lately on the E! network, released a Netflix documentary series, Chelsea Does, and hosted the talk show, Chelsea, on Netflix. In 2018, Handler announced plans to launch a cannabis brand.

No changes of U.S. federal law on marijuana appear on the horizon and that spells trouble for Windsorites crossing the border — even with looming legalization of cannabis on this side of the border.

A Windsor immigration lawyer is calling on the U.S. government and its border officers to use common sense when dealing with Canadians entering the country once recreational marijuana becomes legal.

“The law hasn’t caught up with the times,” said Andrew Porter.

Hopefully, “rational minds will prevail” and there will be “balance on this” in regards to treatment at the border of personal cannabis consumption by Canadians, Porter said.

“Set the parameters on what is reasonable with today’s society.”

Adult-use cannabis legalization is coming to Canada this summer, but the country’s police forces say they don’t have enough time to train officers to detect drug impairment.

In Canada, adult-use cannabis legalization is right around the corner. And according to law enforcement officials and public safety analysts, the fast-approaching deadline means Canadian police are running out of time to train officers to detect drug-impaired drivers. With incidents of drug-related crashes on the rise in Canada, officials are concerned that cannabis legalization will worsen the problem. But they say they don’t have enough time to train officers.

Canadian Police Say They’re Not Ready For Marijuana Legalization

When is enough not enough?

In Quinte West, apparently, roughly two years just isn’t long enough. The city, like every other municipality across Canada, has had ample time to prepare itself for the legalization of marijuana which is set to take place this summer. Anyone who hasn’t lived under a rock for the past two or three years knows what’s taking place and the fact Canadians will be able to toke up legally, within certain laws, of course.

Yet, earlier this week, the whiz kids of Quinte West council unanimously supported a motion by Coun. Sally Freeman to ask for another six months to clear up any misunderstandings or uncertainties about the law changes. Freeman noted the municipality needs time to make necessary changes.

When Justin Trudeau was elected prime minister in 2015 with a promise to legalize marijuana a signficant plank of his campaign platform, it was already clear that individual municipalities across Canada would have the authority to decide how that would look on the local level.

While the feds would worry about the Criminal Code changes and the legal implications of how drivers might be tested for intoxication while the provinces would wrestle with wholesale supply and government-owned and/or private stores, municipalities would decide how easily or difficult pot would be available in their communities, through local bylaws and the awarding of business licences for retail and online sales, warehouse storage and industrial grow operations.