The first cannabis retailer opened its doors in Fort McMurray just before the Canada Day long weekend, with eight more locations approved by the municipality and awaiting a provincial licence.

More than eight months after Canada legalized the sale and consumption of cannabis, Plantlife Cannabis opened at 4 p.m. on June 26 in Stoney Creek.

“Once we heard legalization was coming, it was a matter of if we should be sitting on the sidelines,” said Mike Wheeler, CEO of The Canadian Brewhouse chain, which is running the stores, at the launch. “We want to be here for a long time.”

The marijuana industry is evolving before our eyes. What had once been a taboo industry that was dominated by the black market and dried cannabis flower will soon be no more.

Following the recreational legalization of cannabis in Canada last October, and the ongoing push to give the green light to medical and recreational weed at the state level, acceptance of marijuana into legal channels is growing.

The people behind a new Victoria restaurant hope to eventually serve food and drink containing cannabis. 

Trees: Island Grown is a new downtown eatery opened by Trees Cannabis Company, one of several dispensaries in Victoria that continues to operate while it waits for official licensing from the province. 

Alex Robb, CEO of Trees, says the restaurant does not serve anything containing cannabis extracts right now, but eventually it would like to include those options on the menu. 

"We don't want to push the bounds on this one," Robb said. "We've come a long way since 2015, prior to cannabis being legalized, when we were activists that were making sure that people had access to cannabis for medical purposes.

"Now the world is moving in this direction." 

Ontario will issue 50 new cannabis retail licences this year, a move aimed at expanding legal pot sales in the country's largest marijuana market while helping to stamp out the illicit industry, the provincial government announced Wednesday. 

The province plans to issue 42 new licences for private-sector retailers who successfully pre-qualify to be part of a new lottery system later this month. The remaining eight licences will be allocated for outlets in First Nations communities. 

The United Nations' latest world drug report shows more Canadians started using cannabis each year in the lead-up to the drug's legalization for recreational use.

The report says there was a 40 per cent increase in usage of the drug between 2013 and 2017, which it attributes to a decrease in the perception of risk around cannabis use and the national debate around legalization.

It says the increase in Canada during this time was more pronounced in adults aged 20 or older, while it declined among young people aged 19 or younger.

Beleave currently distributes recreational cannabis in three other Canadian provinces; British Columbia, Manitoba, and Ontario. The Company’s current portfolio of products includes mainstream and premium product offerings of pre-rolls, oils, and dried flower under both the Beleave and Seven Oaks brand names.

Truss CEO expects huge demand for cannabis-infused beverages in Canadian market 

Canadians looking to enjoy soon-to-be-legalized pot-infused edibles could get hit with higher insurance premiums — depending on the size of their appetites.

Many insurers no longer treat cannabis users as cigarette smokers — who pay much higher premiums due to the high-risk activity — provided there is no tobacco or nicotine in products they use.

The shift came in recent years as Canada moved to legalize pot for recreational use, starting with dried flower, oils, plants and seeds.

However, to avoid paying more, cannabis usage must stay below a set number per week and many insurers count any kind of pot, whether it is smoked or sipped or chewed.

Marijuana edibles will soon be legal for purchase in Canada, but if you’re an experienced user, new regulations might mean that you need more than a single package to feel the desired effects.

“We think the regulations around edibles are going to be difficult to launch a product that consumers really want,” Anna Shlimak, head of investor relations and communications at Toronto-based cannabis company Cronos Group, told Investor’s Business Daily last week.

Researchers who pored over the blood work of more than 3,000 drivers involved in crashes in British Columbia have concluded cannabis was a non-factor when it comes to responsibility for those crashes.

But don’t take that as licence to roll another number for the road, said a Halifax addictions expert who co-authored the study.

“I’ve witnessed the evidence over 20 years,” said Dr. Mark Asbridge, a researcher and professor at Dalhousie University’s department of community health and epidemiology.