Researchers develop faster test for cannabis quality.

With pot legalization on its way, producers are increasingly looking for quick and accurate means of determining the potency and quality of their plants.

Researchers at UBC’s Okanagan campus have developed a new method of measuring phytocannabinoids—the primary bioactive molecules in cannabis—that will lead to faster, safer and more accurate information for producers, regulators and consumers alike.

We talked to a doctor from the online medical marijuana evaluation service Heally about how to get more rest through cannabis products.

The Cannabis Act’s ban of certain cannabis products will leave a consumer void and allow the black market to thrive, the CEO of a Canadian cannabis company told a Canadian Senate hearing during testimony last week.

Josh Campbell is the head of dosist, a company that has released a disposable, dose-controlled cannabis pen that is selling like hotcakes in California. But in Canada, concentrates and edibles won’t be available for at least a year, and it’s not known not when a product like Campbell’s will be allowed.

Leafly spoke to Campbell after his testimony in front of the Senate’s Standing Committee von Social Affairs, Science, and Technology.

Government hopes to have some materials ready by the end of June.

The P.E.I. government is looking for a company to create a cannabis education campaign.

The province has put out a request for proposals and hopes to hire a company within the next few weeks. Finance Minister Heath MacDonald said the province is looking for education materials that focus on health and safety awareness.

"We want to ensure that we're taking the steps in the right direction to ensure that people are aware, especially our youth, of the effects of cannabis. Positively, negatively, regards to whether it's medicinal or recreational," said MacDonald.

Medical marijuana CEO clears the air on modes of cannabis consumption.

To vape, smoke or bake? Shekhar Parmar, the CEO of Harvest Medicine, a medical marijuana producer, spoke to The Homestretch Wednesday as part of its ongoing Pot 101 series, to help clear the air around cannabis consumption techniques.

Q: What do you recommend between smoking or eating, when it comes to consuming cannabis?

“Canadian youth between the ages of 15 and 24 are among the highest users of cannabis in all developed countries.”

Whether making headlines, sprinkled throughout Senate hearings, or tossed around in idle chatter, it’s the one line that is dominating the dialogue on the effect of recreational-cannabis legalization on young Canadians.

Those opposed to Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act, relentlessly abuse the factoid to conjure images of brain-dead teenagers hovering around piles of “high potency” bud, moving on to heroin when the weed fix won’t cut it.

Proponents of legalization, on the other hand, are using it as a cry for help, blowing the whistle on a system that is “clearly not working”.

'Welcome to the industry. It’s not going anywhere.' – Meris Kott, chief executive officer, Redfund Capital Corporation.

It’s a common story thread: women entrepreneurs blazing the way for cannabis, taking over the sector and inserting themselves into a market that is booming, complicated and fast-evolving.

Stop. Back it up. Wait a moment. This is not one of those stories.

It’s an easy – perhaps a bit lazy – trend to latch onto, one that weaves itself through the cannabis daily news cycle. “Women in weed: charting change for male-dominated cannabis culture,” blared a CBC headline earlier this year.

The Yukon minister in charge of marijuana says the government hopes to displace more of the illegal market by setting the base price for pot at $8 per gram.

John Streicker, the minister responsible for Yukon Liquor Corp., says in a news release that the government has secured its sole retail location and entered into a second supply agreement. 

Streicker says those actions will ensure Yukon residents have access to cannabis when it becomes legal.

When Canada's finance ministers met last December, they pegged the cost of marijuana at about $10 per gram and the federal government agreed to give provinces and territories 75 per cent of the tax revenues.

Sault College’s plan to deal with legalized marijuana on campus remains in the budding stage, says the school’s director of student services.

Matt Trainor says the post-secondary institution has, for the last six to eight months, looked for provincial direction for forging firm local policy, as well as explored “whatever we can create” to ensure students use pot “safely” in accordance to Sault College policy.
“It’s a relevant issue for us, that’s for sure,” Trainor told The Sault Star in an interview.

Sault College has a smoking and tobacco use policy, with designated smoking areas pegged.

The Reformulary Group Inc. has formed a cannabis formulary committee that will review evidence for medical marijuana and provide expert opinions and criteria for its use, including lines of therapy, specific strains, grams per indication, mode of consumption and quantity limits.

The committee is also aiming to create a registry to capture patient-reported data, which will then help to build a cannabis formulary.  

“For Canadian employers that choose to cover medical cannabis, our cannabis formulary — called Cannabis Standard — will be an essential product to access the best available evidence and expert advice,” said Helen Stevenson, founder and chief executive officer of the Reformulary Group, in a press release.