Ottawa Public Health (OPH) has spent $20,000 on campaigns to counter the negative health effects of cannabis legalization, particularly on youth — a drop in the bucket compared to other cities.

The federal government promised millions in education funding to go along with legalization, with commitments already worth $4.1M to organizations in the city of Toronto. 

None of that federal money has made its way to Ottawa, however. 

"We will be exploring provincial and federal funding opportunities," wrote OPH spokesperson Robyn Muzik in an email.

"We will be submitting our public health budget to the city and province in the new year," 

Now that cannabis has been legalized in Canada, we need to shift our conversation from the theoretical to reality. At CAA South Central Ontario, what we're focused on, day in and day out, is how to keep our roads and road users safe.

We recently commissioned a study conducted by Ipsos that found Ontario drivers are concerned that the legalization of cannabis may impact their safety behind the wheel. Sixty-eight per cent believe there will be more cannabis-impaired drivers on the road following the legalization. In fact, the study revealed that 1.9 million Ontarians have driven under the influence of cannabis. Among current cannabis users, over half feel that they drive worse than a sober driver when under the influence of cannabis.

The Canadian Armed Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are continuing their annual joint search-and-destroy mission against illegal outdoor cannabis grows — another example of how the war against the plant is alive and well, despite legalization.

A B.C. cannabis industry investor who was planning to attend a conference in Las Vegas last week ended up stuck in Canada with a lifetime ban on entering the United States. The man’s lawyer says the case is a reminder that Canadians need to think twice about what they tell U.S. border agents.

Immigration lawyer Len Saunders told CTV News Channel that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent stopped the man and asked why he was going to Las Vegas. The man said he was going to a cannabis conference and planned to tour a marijuana production facility in Nevada, where recreational cannabis has been legal since 2017.

The marijuana industry has seemingly been breaking down barriers at every turn in 2018Opens a New Window.. Just to provide a quick overview, investors have thus far witnessed:

Weed has only been legalized in Canada for one month, and weed supply has already become a major issue. In Alberta, the province has had to completely halt any new applications to open marijuana retail stores. They've even begun to give refunds to hopeful weed stores owners who applied to open a store all because of marijuana shortages. 

There were concerns this would happen, and it has, again.

A Canadian investor in the cannabis industry has been permanently banned from entering the U.S. He is the second such investor to receive a lifetime ban from the U.S.

In May, a Vancouver-based venture capitalist Sam Znaimer, an investor in some U.S. cannabis startups, was stopped by U.S border agents, and was also barred for life. Since October, recreational use of cannabis was made legal, adding to the already legal medicinal cannabis market. Thousands of Canadians have jumped into the new rapidly expanding and lucrative industry, from executives, to workers, to investors.

A month into legalization of recreational cannabis, lawyers bracing for a spike in Canadians banned from U.S.

Marijuana has been legal in Canada for a month already, but immigration lawyers and cannabis executives say when it comes to getting into the United States, the worst may be yet to come.

As Canadians get used to the fact that cannabis is no longer against the law in their country, some experts fear they will forget the perils that past and present marijuana use still poses for those seeking to cross the Canada-U.S. border.

Henry Chang, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer, says he's bracing for a spike in cases of people who end up being banned outright from entering the U.S. for owning up to using pot.

The marijuana industry has delivered one milestone after another in 2018.

The highlight, of course, was the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada on Oct. 17, 2018, which ended nine decades of adult-use prohibition. However, we also witnessed two more U.S. states legalize medical pot, which went along with Michigan becoming the 10th state to OK recreational weed use. Add in pot stock uplistings, the first cannabis-derived drug being approved in the U.S., and Tilray becoming the first pot stock to IPO on a reputable U.S. exchange, and you have the makings of a groundbreaking year.

Several city councillors say they want to opt out of having private cannabis stores in Hamilton, especially given how close they can be to schools.

At least four of Hamilton's 15 councillors say they want more control over where pot stores go and are unhappy with key parts of the new provincial guidelines released Wednesday. Under the new guidelines, the shops can't be within 150 metres of schools. Councillors wanted 300 metres.

Unless those changes are made, they say, they don't want private shops in Hamilton at all.

"I'm appalled by the ridiculous minimum of only 150 metres (approximately 450 feet) that a recreational store has to be away from a nearby school with lots of children," said Tom Jackson of Ward 6. The planned setback, he said, is "shameful."