The anniversary of Canada’s recreational cannabis legalization arrives Oct. 17, just days before the federal election. Legalization was a Liberal campaign promise from the last election, so it’s timely to review how it’s worked out.

For some, it might mean feeling a little uneasy when matched with an unknown entity that catches them off guard when they least expect it, or a looming dread of a weekly editorial meeting that keeps them from wanting to get out of bed. Hey, we’ve been there. There are other people, however, who have an irrational, crippling fear (otherwise known as a phobia) of something that hinders their lives with such ferocity that they will do everything in their power to maintain a safe distance.

It’s considered an alternative to smoking cigarettes, yet it’s causing more harm than good.

With eight reported deaths in the United States and the number of reported related illness climbing daily, health officials from all over are calling for an end to vaping.

In Canada, health officials in Ontario and British Columbia are investigating four cases of severe lung diseases (one likely and three possible) linked to vaping products (also known as e-cigarettes), the Globe and Mail reports.

The vaping health crisis is happening at a very bad time for the Canadian cannabis industry.

With pot stocks already down over 40 percent since the end of the first quarter, news that an Ontario youth has been diagnosed with Canada’s first reported vaping-linked illness while hundreds have fallen ill in the U.S., is further battering the sector.

Marijuana and violence have been getting connected in odd ways over the past month or so. A new book argues that there is a connection, and a famous TV host has also raised the issue. Experts, on the other hand, have lined up to argue that they are both wrong.

The latest controversy over marijuana and violence got kickstarted by FOX News host Tucker Carlson when he recently interviewed  former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson.

A brain protein associated with depression and Alzheimer’s in young marijuana users has now also been linked to stress and anxiety.

Previous studies have shown that marijuana can reduce stress and quell anxiety in adults. New Canadian research indicates the same might not be true for adolescents. Instead, young cannabis users often develop a brain protein associated with stress and anxiety, according to the study.

At midnight on Oct. 17, 2018—the second it became legal to sell cannabis—Christopher Duffitt was ready. His store, Puff Puff Pass Head Shop, opened its doors to a lineup of customers in Clarenville, Nfld., a town of 6,300 people northwest of St. John’s. But it quickly became clear that the business wouldn’t be open for long.

One of the bizarre parts about the recent string of vaping related illnesses and deaths is that it has been restricted to the United States. So far there have been 380 likely cases of vaping-correlated lung disease in 36 states and one US territory, but not a peep from the rest of the world.

That changed this week, when officials in Ontario, Canada told the public that they were investigating the severe respiratory problems that had been experienced by a high school student after vaping. They would not release many details about the case, however—we’re still in the dark even as to whether the young person was using cannabis and/or tobacco products.

About 60 percent of surveyed workplaces are worried about how cannabis will affect safety on the job, but don’t have zero-tolerance policies in effect, notes a recent report.

The study released this August by the Conference Board of Canada surveyed 163 employers between November 2018 and January 2019 to understand how they prepared for and are managing pot legalization.

Roughly two out of three companies polled felt ready for legalization, but were still uneasy.

“They are particularly concerned about workplace safety increased risk of accidents, impairment at work and employee mental health,” reads the report.

Newly released data from Health Canada indicates Canadians just aren’t that into cannabis oils.

The agency reports that inventories of cannabis oil greatly outweigh the number of sales.

For the month of June, around 9,600 litres of cannabis oil was sold compared to a total inventory of just over 141,000 litres — that is 14.7 times more inventory than sales.

Sales of cannabis oil also decreased in June by 2.1 percent, but finished inventory actually increased 15 percent, from a little over 85,000 to more than 98,000 litres.