Ontario still has problems shipping pot

The issues plaguing Ontario’s rollout of legal pot have made their way to the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman. The provincial authority has received more than 1,000 complaints since Oct. 17, many of which are related to delivery delays and poor customer service, reports BNN Bloomberg’s David George-Cosh. For its trouble, the Ontario Cannabis Store – the online retailer tasked with selling legal pot in the province – said some products have been mislabelled, causing additional delays to deliver the correct product to customers. Meanwhile, cannabis retail stores in other parts of the country continue to experience significant demand and lengthy queues.  

Mexico edges closer to legalizing recreational pot use

Recreational pot use is now legal in Mexico, although the outright commercial sale of the drug is still outlawed, according to a Bloomberg report. The country’s Supreme Court issued two new decisions that, when combined along with three similar cases, establish that prohibiting marijuana use is unconstitutional. The court decision doesn’t permit commercial sales, and the government can still regulate how people use cannabis.

Tilray executives no longer billionaires 

As shares of Tilray come back down to Earth, some of its management are mere multi-millionaires after experiencing what life was like as a billionaire, at least on paper. Bloomberg’s Tom Metcalf finds that Tilray’s Brendan Kennedy, Michael Blue and Christian Groh – who collectively own about 45 per cent of the company – saw their personal wealth shrink to the hundreds of millions of dollars after Tilray’s stock traded below the US$100-level. The trio hit billionaire-status on Sept. 19 when Tilray touched US$300 a share.

U.K. legalizes medical marijuana use

The United Kingdom will officially allow some physicians to prescribe medical marijuana beginning Nov. 1, even if it will take time to import enough supply and doctors may not know how to prescribe it. Still, there is a new market now for medical cannabis, which has already enjoyed significant success in the U.S. and Canada. Medical marijuana will be restricted in the U.K. as doctors will need approval on a case-by-case basis before issuing a prescription and patients will be unable to obtain any cannabis through the country’s National Health Service.

Another politician gets in the pot game

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak is the latest politician to get into the pot business. Barak chairs InterCure, a biomedical company that recently completed its acquisition of Canndoc Pharma and holds one of just eight coveted licenses from Israel’s Health Ministry to grow medical-grade marijuana. Former U.S. speaker John Boehner and former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney both joined the board of Acreage Holdings recently, while former Toronto police chief Julian Fantino is the chairman of Aleafia Health.