With full adult-use legalization looming, the recreational marijuana industry is gathering its resources to provide several options for tomorrow’s consumers. While smoking the plant matter will be the primary market at first, once restrictions are lifted, the future of the sector points heavily towards non-inhaled products—namely in drinks.

Sproutly, an upcoming CSE public company, will seek to raise capital in order to develop partnerships with beverage producers and sell an efficient cannabis drink.

The opportunities presented for the cannabis market following legalization will only increase a year after the event, thanks to the legitimization of novel products such as vaporizers and edibles.

Cannabis infused beverages will also attempt to catch the eye of new consumers seeking alternatives to the most associated consumption methods with the drug. A company working to develop its own beverage told the Investing News Network (INN) about its public market intentions at the Lift & Co Cannabis Expo in Toronto held May 25-27.

No one would accuse the Pallister government of being soft on drugs. It has repeatedly lobbied its federal counterpart to push back the deadline for the upcoming legalization of marijuana. It has also found reasons to reject recommendations to establish safe-consumption sites in Winnipeg for the city’s growing number of people addicted to harder drugs, including opiates.

But like it or not — and, philosophically, the Pallister government clearly does not — cannabis will soon be legal, likely by the end of this summer or early autumn.

Health Canada says they are illegal and both are close to residential neighbourhoods.

First it was The Kure, now it’s Indigenous Bloom.

Some wonder what’s taken so long, but it appears some local First Nations people are taking advantage of marijuana’s legal grey area by opening up shops on reserves.

And while marijuana is technically illegal to sell, and cannabis dispensaries are forbidden in the City of Chilliwack, dealing with what happens on reserve may prove to be a tricky matter.

The Kure Cannabis Dispensary quietly opened up in April on Dyke Road on the Skwah Reserve near Townsend Park. The operation is on a privately held CP (Certificate of Possession) land, according to band councillor Lara Mussell.

Canaccord Genuity, a mid-sized Canadian investment bank that's been around since 1950, is quietly dominating the emerging marijuana sector.

Since 2016, Canaccord has outpaced the competition in both advising and underwriting cannabis companies, acting as the sole or joint bookrunner on more than $1.5 billion of financings and advising on more than 50 transactions, according to the firm.

NLC will monitor licensed stores, but can challenge unlicensed shops.

Is there a shop in your neighbourhood currently selling weed?

Health Canada has not approved any storefront locations for over-the-counter medical cannabis sales in Newfoundland and Labrador. Recreational-use cannabis is not yet legal.

Multiple shops have set up with cannabis-related branding. In some cases, they promote informational services and referrals for medical marijuana users. In other cases, they have been identified by community members as dispensaries, intent on selling marijuana for recreational purposes (as opposed to specifically medical marijuana for prescriptions) prior to legalization.

Illegal activity is subject to police intervention.

If anyone believes there isn’t a healthy dose of unseemly cash-grab in the provincial government’s new cannabis legislation, then they haven’t read the proposed law.

More specifically, they haven’t read sections 72 and 69 (7) of An Act Respecting the Control and Sale of Cannabis.

That’s the section that deals with the online sale of cannabis.

In it, the province attempts to legislate the NLC (“the corporation” in the legislation) a global internet monopoly on cannabis sales.

Here are those sections.

“72. (1) A person other than the corporation shall not sell or otherwise supply cannabis online or through a website.

The last week has been quite busy for the cannabis sector as companies have announced earnings, acquisitions, and partnerships. This is an exciting time to be a cannabis investor and today, we have highlighted 7 important company announcements that investors need to be aware of.

7 Developments to be Aware of

On Monday (May 28), the Senate’s social affairs committee passed 40 amendments to the proposed federal cannabis legalization laws, including one which would solidify provincial powers to ban at-home cultivation.

In an eight-hour clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act, more than three dozen technical clarifications, definitions, and translation errors were addressed to correct flaws in the drafting. Twenty-nine of those amendments were proposed by Sen. Tory Dean (independent), the bill’s sponsor, implying the majority of changes come with the backing of the government.

Conservative efforts shut down

There has been a great deal of discussion about the British Columbia Cannabis Act, but there has not been a solid breakdown of all of the offences under the Act. In an effort to provide a helpful guide, this post summarizes all the offences laid out in the Cannabis Act.

What is particularly interesting about the penalties in the Cannabis Act, is that many of the offences for possession, production, and distribution mimic those in the proposed federal regulations. This would mean that police have the opportunity to charge individuals under the provincial law or the federal law.