Municipal governments are once again appealing to the B.C. government for a share of the cannabis excise tax revenue to help deal with the extra costs and responsibilities they’ve taken on since marijuana legalization.

It’s the fifth year in a row that delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) convention have voted on a resolution about receiving some of the federal tax that is applied to medical and non-medical cannabis.

The federal government passes on 75 per cent of the excise tax revenue to the provinces and territories, and although three provinces have deals to share that cash with their local governments, B.C. does not.

Cannabis is safer than alcohol.

How much so?

According to at least one peer reviewed study the cannabis plant is 114 times safer than alcohol.

New data shows 1 in 5 Canadians have recently driven high or with someone who was.

In an attempt to convince Canadians not to drive after eating a marijuana edible, officials took a left turn by making some jokes. The Canadian Automobile Association released a new set of comedic public service announcement videos warning the dangers of being behind the wheel. According to the organization, one in five Canadian say they have driven high or rode in the car of someone who was.

Would you like to be able to grab an edible from your favourite coffee shop? What about a massage with a CBD-topical from your local masseuse? If you live in Manitoba, the province’s Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority (LGCA) wants to hear from you.

Until the end of the month, the LGCA is holding public consultations to determine the “entrepreneurial and consumer demand” for cannabis licenses that would authorize businesses to offer on-site cannabis consumption.

The licenses would account for edibles and other ingestible cannabis products but vaping and smoking would remain prohibited. 

It’s hardly a day that most weed lovers would celebrate, but Quebec’s provincial police got down and dirty this past Wednesday to take part in Cannabis Plant Eradication Day.

The B.C. government says it will launch three cannabis programs over the next two years to help small and Indigenous growers compete with larger rivals.

A farm−gate program would allow growers to sell their products at stores located at their production sites. 

Another program would allow small cannabis producers, licensed by Health Canada, to deliver cannabis directly to authorized retailers.

The government did not say how it will define small producers, but says nurseries will be included in the policy. 

Both programs are expected to launch in 2022, a year after the province hopes to start an initiative that will highlight cannabis from Indigenous producers in stores and online. 

A 20-year-old man is facing charges after allegedly trying to smuggle contraband into an eastern Ontario jail.

Provincial police say it allegedly happened Thursday morning near the Quinte Detention Centre in Napanee, Ont.

OPP say they got involved after receiving reports of a suspicious man on private property near the correctional facility.

Officers arrested the man and allegedly seized a large drone, as well as what they describe as a significant quantity of tobacco and cannabis.

They allege the man planned to use the drone to smuggle the goods into the detention centre.

The man from Loyalist Township, Ont., is charged with possession for the purpose of distributing cannabis as well as a trespassing offence.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s National Cannabis Working Group is calling on the federal government to embrace the economic upside of Canada’s regulated cannabis industry in the COVID-19 economic recovery plan it will be presenting to Canadians this fall.

Investments by the legal cannabis industry have created thousands of good paying jobs in communities of all sizes across Canada, and added an additional $8.3 billion to Canada’s GDP as of July 2019. The industry is in a position to contribute much more to Canada’s economy, as Statistics Canada recently determined when it reported that legal cannabis sources still represent less than half of all consumption in Canada.

In December 2018, anticipating a cannabis retail boom in Ontario, aspiring retailer mihi held leases on 42 empty locations across the province.

Locked into contracts, the company was ready to be among the province’s first retail operators. That same month, however, citing a cannabis supply shortage, the Ontario government did something it had maintained it would not do. It capped the number of retail stores at 25, and introduced a much-maligned lottery system to allocate those licences.

Not everyone will be celebrating this- but it’s all part of a day’s work.

Yesterday (Wednesday September 16th) was Cannabis Plant Eradication Day in Quebec, and the SQ were in the field with choppers and chain saws.

It was a province-wide blitz aimed at dismantling illicit gardening activity in Center-du-Québec, Estrie, Mauricie and Outaouais.

The Access-Cannabis program saw officers dismantle outdoor cannabis production sites in the regions, adding to the totals of more than 27,500 plants seized and 40 arrests so far this year.

Police note that while cannabis consumption is legal, you should be buying from legitimate vendors and not supporting Quebec’s underground economy.