Despite cannabis legalization being six months in the rear mirror, some industry players say Canadian cannabis companies are still struggling with a restrictive policy framework that is limiting the sector’s growth and helping the black market to flourish.

Yellowknifers are getting closer to legally buying cannabis products somewhere besides the liquor store.

At a city council meeting Monday, councillors discussed the regulatory framework for retail cannabis sales. Recreational cannabis became legal in the Northwest Territories on Oct. 17, following federal legislation, but the uptown liquor store is only retail location in the city. 

That framework could include a 100-meter buffer zone between shops selling cannabis and certain areas, such as elementary, junior and high schools, the Fieldhouse, the Yellowknife aquatic centre and arena, Stanton Hospital, medical centres, and daycares.

This map shows where cannabis could not be sold if the buffer zone is approved:

A Dartmouth, N.S., man with a physical disability is fighting for the right to smoke medicinal pot in a smoke-free apartment, as he takes his battle to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

Philip Bennett, 57, was evicted from his apartment on Friday after losing several legal challenges at the provincial Residential Tenancies Board and small claims court.

That night, he slept in his motorized wheelchair out in the woods, which was made worse by the fact it was raining.

“I had to cut a garbage bag to put it over my head,” he told CTV News Atlantic.

Bennett has since taken up temporary residence at a motel, after receiving money from members of the Dartmouth’s medical cannabis community.

Pardon the cliche, but the marijuana industry appears to be the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Although the cannabis industry has existed for decades behind the scenes, the legalization of recreational weed in Canada, along with more than 40 countries giving medical marijuana the green light around the world, has opened the floodgates for legal revenue to flow into the industry.

But, as is common with any nascent and fast-growing industry, it's dealing with growing pains. This is especially true of our neighbor to the north, Canada.

The New Brunswick government is considering three options as it mulls the future of Cannabis NB.

Finance Minister Ernie Steeves said the options include allowing experts to run the business, scaling it down and closing the Cannabis NB stores that aren’t making money, or privatizing it.

His comments come after the province's Crown-owned cannabis retailer recorded a big financial loss in its first year of operation.

Unaudited year-end results released last week show Cannabis NB lost $11.7 million.

“It’s a real fancy model and I’ve said all along, one of the busiest businesses in Moncton is Costco. It’s a cement floor and steel shelves,” Steeves said Wednesday.

Health Canada is changing its process for issuing cannabis licences, in a bid to reduce wait times, after a review found a "significant amount" of its resources was used to approve numerous applications for facilities that have yet to materialize years later.

Effective immediately, new applicants for licences to cultivate, process or sell cannabis — for either medical or recreational purposes — must now have a fully built site that meets the regulations when they submit their application, the government agency said.

Prior to this, cannabis licence applicants could submit an application with their plans and get approval before building.

For Toronto condo developer Options for Homes, the term “family friendly” has a very specific meaning—no smoking or growing weed.

The non-profit developer is currently building a 22-storey tower north of downtown called The Humber, named after the river nearby it. When completed it is billing itself as the first smoke-free condo in the Greater Toronto Area.

While in the planning stages, Options surveyed 7,000 of its potential purchasers about a smoke-less policy—75 percent said they would be more likely to buy a condo in a smoke-free building, meaning a ban on smoking both weed and tobacco. But Options decided on a compromise—it will allow vaping cannabis and nicotine in its suites, but not in common areas.

Canadian lawmakers have been batting around the idea of creating another cross border trade deal with the U.S. But this deal wouldn’t be for steel or wheat or cars. It would be for marijuana—that is at some point in the future, if Washington DC lawmakers ever get around to ending 80 years of federal prohibition.

The issue stems from Canada’s supply and demand problem. Demand for legal marijuana has been high since Canada became the first G7 country to legalize cannabis, but the supply has been falling short.

Meanwhile, an export deal could be a godsend in U.S. states such as Oregon, where they say they’re sitting on about a six-year supply of cannabis flower.

“It’s been a pretty tough, long winter for us. We both have families and we’ve had to make financial sacrifices,” said Breault, whose shop “Green Easy” remains shuttered as they await approval from Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis, the provincial agency overseeing Alberta’s cannabis industry.

Last week, the AGLC said an improving supply of marijuana allowed them to begin issuing 26 more retail licences, a slight easing on a moratorium bringing the number of Alberta retailers to 101.

But the slight increase in cannabis availability is still not enough to completely lift the moratorium, leaving an estimated 600 prospective pot retailers stuck in limbo.

Cannabis retailers in Ontario who have failed to open their stores by a government-set deadline are facing a new round of financial penalties.

In all, 11 pot retailers have been fined $12,500 each for not opening their stores by April 15.

Twenty-five retailers were selected through a government lottery to open the first brick-and-mortar cannabis stores on April 1, but less than half met the deadline.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario established a system of escalating penalties for retailers who didn't start serving customers on time.

The agency says it has drawn down on letters of credit submitted by the licencees -- some for a second time -- taking $12,500 from the $50,000 initially provided.