As consumer awareness around CBD continues to grow, cannabis companies are beginning to allocate an inordinate amount of investment capital into the development of CBD-infused beverages.

In this report, we explore some of the largest and most active companies preparing to make their mark on the dawning CBD-infused beverage market.

The Alkaline Water Company

The Alkaline Water Company (NASDAQ: WTER) (TSX-V: WTER), a leading producer of premium bottled alkaline drinking water sold under the brand name Alkaline88®, continues to gain momentum as it achieves record Q3 sales, boasting a 102% increase in revenue in comparison to last year.

The hopeful operator of a legal marijuana retail outlet is poised to open in an east Hamilton shopping plaza.

Canna Cabana Hamilton has reached the 15-day public comment period to open a government-approved pot shop at the Centre on Barton.

Its roughly 2,400-square-foot space at the east side of the plaza is undergoing renovations to be ready for the province's deadline.

"I'm working diligently to meet the April 1 deadline," business owner Steven Fry said Monday morning.

The provincial government aims to have Ontario's first legal cannabis retailers open for business by April. It's limited the number to 25 initially, citing a short supply of legal weed.

She is 77 years old and best known for dispensing advice on such vital matters as how to tidy up a linen closet or make the perfect cheesy vegetable frittata.

Now Martha Stewart is branching out into the marijuana business, as America's most celebrated domestic goddess teams up with a Canadian cannabis business, Canopy Growth Corporation.

The marijuana industry is evolving at a rapid pace. Back in 1995, a mere 25% of all respondents in Gallup's annual survey were in favor of legalizing marijuana, and not a single U.S. state or country around the world had given the green light to cannabis.

Today, two-thirds of all respondents in Gallup's annual survey now favor the legalization of pot in the U.S., with 33 U.S. states having legalized the drug for medical purposes, and 10 allowing adult consumption. There are also two countries (Canada and Uruguay) worldwide to OK recreational weed, with more than two dozen medically legal countries.

B.C.'s first round of tax revenue from legal cannabis is lower than the estimates written into the 2018/2019 budget.

The province had estimated it would receive $200 million over three years. But provincial Finance Minister Carole James told reporters Wednesday the province has now built in $68 million over three years.

"We can make adjustments to that each year as we see the progress of the stores opening," she said.

James said the discrepancy was due to delays in legalization from the federal government and municipal elections across B.C. which put new permits for pot shops on hold.

"We've seen a delay in opening of stores and that obviously impacts the revenue," she said.

Zenabis CEO Andrew Grieve says having the 255,000-square-foot facility in operation not only will allow the company to produce more, but also allow more flexibility to how it disperses its resources across its two other plants, one in New Brunswick and the other in Langley, B.C.

“We actually have a 255,000-square-foot facility that we can use for a variety of different components of our business, whether that’s processing and packaging, manufacturing, or a range of other activities,” says Grieve. “This provides us with additional significant flexibility and additional cultivation capacity.”

Ontario’s lottery system to dole out the first wave of cannabis shop licences is producing some unusual results across the province.

Canada’s most populated province will allow privately owned retail marijuana sales starting April 1, after the Ford government abandoned a plan for government-run stores last summer.

A recreational-cannabis store poised to open in Langford this year is the latest link in a chain of Clarity Cannabis outlets founded by a Victoria pharmacist.

Michael Forbes has already launched three stores in Alberta, with another 26 awaiting construction and regulation approvals in that province.

He plans to open seven in B.C. and one in Saskatchewan.

In addition to the Langford outlet, Forbes said he intends to open stores in Cranbrook, Dawson Creek, Kamloops, Prince Rupert and two in Victoria.

“As a licensed and practicing pharmacist, I find a lot of crossover in terms of retailing cannabis and pharmaceuticals in terms of ensuring customer safety and treating everyone with compassion and fairness,” Forbes said in an email to the Times Colonist.

The young man says he was running down the alley behind Second Avenue South with a jar of marijuana in each hand, sure the police were hot on his heels, when he decided to rethink his career choice.

He worked at the Saskatoon Cannabis Clinic, an illegal dispensary with no city business licence, no licence from the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority to sell cannabis recreationally, and no recognition from Health Canada as a legitimate medical cannabis supplier.

The business had already been raided three times in the past three months, reopening each time in defiance of police and government.

I essentially feel like a little small-time drug dealer. It's not what I am, it's not who I want to be."- Former Saskatoon Cannabis Clinic employee

The process to open privately operated cannabis retail stores in Greater Sudbury continued to move forward this week, with one of the applicants, Saturninus Partners, moving into the eligibility phase of Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario review process, and another, Anton Lucic, nearing the end of a public notice period.

Saturninus and Lucic were recently named as winners for the North Region in the AGCO’s Expression of Interest Application Lottery. The commission has targeted April 1 of this year as an opening date.