One of the federal government’s key stated objectives in legalizing weed has been to keep it out of the hands of children. As such, retail stores across the country are being careful about verifying customers’ ages, and in some cases scanning identification cards to validate them.

The Hunny Pot on Toronto’s Queen Street West told VICE it is scanning IDs to alleviate wait times, but that it is optional and customers are made aware that they can have their ID verified manually. Ameri, a weed shop in Yorkville, said it mostly checks IDs manually but also has a scanning gun available to “maintain compliance, catch fake IDs and lower human error.”

Who is NextLeaf Solutions? 

NextLeaf Solutions Ltd (CSE:OILS) is a cannabis-extraction-technology company that has a patented process for the commercial scale production of high-quality cannabinoid distillate, the precursor to every cannabis-infused products. 

Cannabis continues to grab headlines the world over. However, due to the lack of efficient, large-scale clinical trials, cannabis is not still not considered a registered medicine under international regulations. Cannabis is comprised of approximately 104 different cannabinoids and around 750 different chemicals such as cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Many pieces of research have linked cannabis to effectively treating certain medical conditions such as cancer, chronic pain, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis. Ultimately, researchers hope to replace traditional treatment and medication with cannabis-based products. However, due to cannabis' THC component, legalizing cannabis on an international scale poses a challenge.

A recent court ruling in British Columbia, Canada that focused on the "material change" clause in homeowners insurance policies could have the potential to shed a spotlight on the incompatibility of such a position with new federal cannabis laws. According to the Globe and Mail, The decision of Vancouver Supreme Court Justice Margot Fleming in February 2019 could very well have far-reaching effects for all homeowners in Canada who grow even a single marijuana plant inside their home.

Another pot shop quietly opens in Toronto with soft launch to avoid massive lines

The Ontario-designated operator of a cannabis outlet in Niagara Falls said that he expects the store to open by early May. 

Chris Bogart, Choom Cannabis president, said the store at 7555 Montrose Road is in “full construction mode.”

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario designated the Vancouver-based Choom Cannabis the province-backed adult use and recreational marijuana retailer for Niagara Falls earlier this winter.

The store is in a strip plaza along a heavily-traveled thoroughfare.

A second Niagara regional cannabis retailer opened Monday in St. Catharines.

B.C. has a marijuana shortage.

At least that’s the story with government-sanctioned cannabis products in the wake of the national legalization of marijuana last October.

“Supply is still very much an issue not just here but across the country,” B.C. Minister of Solicitor General and Public Safety Mike Farnworth said April 4. He said the province has been pushing for the addition of marijuana microproducers into the supply chain to ensure enough pot gets to market.

Supply issues began to plague market not long after legalization.

And doobie-desperate British Columbians can forget wandering down the street to the local dealer if that dealer’s become a neighbourhood nuisance.

The legalization of cannabis last October included the option for private citizens to grow plants at home, but seeds weren’t available from distributors in Alberta until last month. Seeds are now available through Fire and Flower Cannabis online and at their location in Sherwood Park as well as at Nova Cannabis in Edmonton.

Jayden Colwell, a first-time grower, expects to get eight ounces worth of smokable marijuana once he harvests the plants he’s growing in his Calgary home. “If you can get a tomato plant to grow, you can get a cannabis plant to grow,” said Colwell. “They call it weed for a reason, it’s fairly easy.”

The Richmond Row business, owned by Ranjit Basra, had been waiting for its retail store authorization, which has now been issued, according to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, the province’s pot regulator.

Located at 691 Richmond St., the business sits beside a now-vacant space that was home to the London Relief Centre, an illegal pot shop that served anyone older than 19, until it closed in December following repeated police raids.

There is a wide gap between what Canadians fear might be the impact of cannabis legalization on the value of their homes and what other jurisdictions have experienced.

Most Canadians believe legalization will hurt property values, according to an October 2018 survey by real estate company Zoocasa. The poll found that 42 per cent of respondents believed a dispensary located nearby would reduce their home’s value, compared with 36 per cent who disagreed. An even larger proportion (48 per cent) indicated that a dispensary nearby would reduce their desire to buy a home in that area.