This year’s expo, the first since legalization in October 2018, will feature Canada’s first legal cannabis competition, the Hempfest Cup, and organizers’ expectations are high.

“What we’re kinda going after is something like the SIP awards in the liquor industry, where craft alcohol producers can send in a bottle and be judged, so that’s what it’s trying to model,” expo organizer Sacha Hockenhull said. “Cannabis producers can now enter a competition that ranks them against each other.”

The competition, which will run alongside the expo on Oct. 11 and 12 at the Big Four building at Stampede Park, is open to any Canadian who can legally grow cannabis, from personal-use growers to licensed producers (LP).

So, you want to open up a pot shop.

Perhaps you’re a shopkeeper at heart, drawn to a rare bright spot in a retail landscape mired in doom-and-gloom. Maybe you missed out on the first phase of the green gold rush and you’re looking to make your mark on this (literal) growth industry, knowing it’s a sector where consumers have indicated a preference for buying in-person rather than online. Or maybe you’ve just heard that Canadians bought $85 million dollars’ worth of legal cannabis in May of this year and want your own piece of that green.

CannTrust Holdings Inc. (TRST.TO 3.58%), the Canadian pot company that’s plunged more than half this year after it breached regulations, said Ontario’s cannabis wholesaler is returning its products.

The Ontario Cannabis Store, the government corporation in charge of wholesale distribution to licensed retailers and operator of the province’s online store, has elected to return all or substantially all of CannTrust products because they are “non-conforming.” The products are valued at about $2.9 million, CannTrust said in a statement Monday.

Health Canada hasn’t ordered a recall of any products, according to CannTrust.

Last Friday was the entry deadline for Ontario’s second cannabis retail license lottery. Applicants won’t know until Tuesday whether they’re among the winners. Unfortunately, there’s much else they and provincial taxpayers don’t know, because the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) keeps it all secret.

OCS, also called the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corp., is a provincial crown corporation under the Ministry of Finance. It holds a legal monopoly on online recreational cannabis sales in Ontario. It’s also the sole supplier to privately owned cannabis stores.

Whoever said that stoners were lazy had obviously never encountered any of the organizers for the upcoming Ontario Cannabis Festival in Kitchener. These dedicated marijuana enthusiasts are boasting that they will attempt to set a new record for the world's longest joint. It's actually a lot longer than you might think.

Statistics Canada says Canadian men are almost twice as likely to use cannabis as women.

New data from the National Cannabis Survey today shows 16 per cent of Canadians over 15 years old report using pot in April, May or June.

That's down slightly from 17.5 per cent in the first three months of the year.

Almost five million Canadians consumed cannabis in some form during the three month period. One quarter of men, and 16 per cent of women, reported they plan to consume it in the next three months.

The survey suggests men are more likely to use cannabis daily or weekly than women, and are also more likely to use it for non-medicinal purposes.

About four in 10 marijuana users say they bought cannabis illegally.

The BC Liquor Distribution Branch wants to hear from licensed marijuana producers able to make and supply new pot-based creations as the province prepares for the soon-to-be legalized edible cannabis market.

The branch has issued a product call, asking would-be suppliers to identify their interest and ability to provide the branch with edibles, beverages, topicals and extracts.

A statement from the liquor distribution branch says successful applicants will see their products marketed throughout the province in both licensed private retailers and government-run BC Cannabis Stores.

The product call opens Thursday and closes on Sept. 11.

Anyone who thinks they are growing blue ribbon buds in the Cowichan Valley, now is your chance to vie for community bragging rights.

The 151st Cowichan Exhibition Fair on Vancouver Island, which this year runs Sept. 6-8, will be judging homegrown cannabis plants for the first time. The event is a chance for local agriculture producers to showcase their livestock and produce.

And now green thumb weed growers can enter the competition too. 

This fall, Coast Mountain College will expand its curriculum to include cannabis classes for its students, with the new Cannabis Cultivation Series.

The series will be made up of five courses covering cannabis regulation, processing for the home grower, harvesting and curing, indoor growing and outdoor growing.

On Saturday, two new cannabis retail locations opened up shop in the ‘Gas City’ including Choom Cannabis on 3rd Street Southeast and Spiritleaf on Trans-Canada Way.

That’s brought Medicine Hat’s marketplace to double-digits, with 11 locations approved to sell recreational cannabis in the city.

Mayor Ted Clugston said he’s heard from a handful of these owners who say the market is becoming over saturated.

“I’ve had some business owners come to me that actually own retail outlets say, ‘I think there’s too many,’” said Clugston. “We took the approach here at City Hall that it will sort itself out.”

Among Alberta’s nine largest cities, Medicine Hat has the most cannabis stores per capita with one retailer for every 5,750 residents.