Picking up a last-minute gift of booze or deciding to top up one’s holiday merriment has just been made easier.

Liquor stores and cannabis shops have been given the green light to do business on Christmas Day, the provincial regulator of those products announced Monday.

“Lifting the restrictions to allow these liquor and cannabis licensees to stay open on December 25 is another opportunity to reduce red tape and support licensees in making business decisions that best support their operational needs,” says a statement from Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC).

Opening on that day will be optional for retailers, though an AGLC spokeswoman said it’s impossible to know how many will use the opportunity.

Kaileen Chisholm was preparing to start culinary studies at Edmonton’s Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) last year when her sister-in-law sent her a link to a cannabis event hosted by Travis Petersen, a former contestant on MasterChef Canada, a competitive cooking reality show.

Chisholm contacted Petersen and soon started working with the Vancouver-based chef whenever he held an event in Alberta. Earlier this month, she travelled to Vancouver to work alongside he and a handful of other chefs at two multi-course dinners that included dishes such as turkey medallion, stuffing and foie gras with cannabis-infused cranberry gravy.

Police continue to search for two suspects after a west-end cannabis store was hit by an armed robbery Thursday night, police said Friday.

The suspects entered Cannamart near 101 Avenue and 175 Street around 9 p.m. with a weapon and stole a variety of merchandise before fleeing the scene in a vehicle stolen outside the business.

Police responded soon after and canvassed the neighbourhood for the suspects.

No one was injured in the incident, including store staff and the driver of the vehicle stolen by the suspects, which was recovered by police shortly after.

In a statement, AGLC spokeswoman Heather Holmen said this is believed to be the first reported cannabis store robbery in the province.

It might be called the black and blue market by the time Alberta is done with it.

The Canadian province’s online retailer, AlbertaCannabis.org, is stepping up efforts to combat illicit cannabis by slashing product prices in the lead up to the arrival of edibles in the new year.

“Prices on all products have been reduced to better provide affordable, safe cannabis,” Alberta Cannabis told CTV News Edmonton. “And we’ve reduced our shipping fees by half — pay only $4.95 to have your order shipped right to your door.”

Albertans purchased nearly $200 million worth of legal pot in the first 11 months of legalization, making it the biggest per capita consumer among larger provinces.

Statistics Canada figures released Wednesday show Albertans bought $196 million worth of cannabis from privately operated stores and a government-run website from October 2018 to September 2019.

That represents 22 per cent of national sales of $908 million in a province that makes up just 12 per cent of Canada’s population.

The only province with bigger dollar sales was Ontario with $217 million, but that came from a population more than three times that of Alberta.

Canada’s top per-capita cannabis seller won’t be getting a head start on selling cannabis edibles, extracts and topicals.

Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) reports that Alberta will have to wait until the new year before selling Cannabis 2.0 products.

But, the delay wasn’t a surprise.

“It’s the quickest timeline for AGLC to order and receive product from LPs (licensed producers) after the earliest day provinces can legally order from LPs (Dec. 16), to list in inventory for retailers to order and then ship out to stores across the province,” AGLC spokesperson Heather Holmen told The GrowthOp.

Despite years of stagnation, Canadian cannabis research is finally kicking into high gear.

The University of Alberta announced a partnership on Tuesday with Atlas Biotechnologies. The entities will conduct research relating to medical cannabis and its application in the treatment of a number of neurological illnesses, including Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease and multiple sclerosis (MS).

An Edmonton man is looking to open one of the city’s first craft cannabis growing operations.

Rob Simonowits had a medical marijuana licence prior to the legalization of cannabis and just got word that he is now approved to move forward with his application to grow up to 2,100 square feet of cannabis for the legal recreational market. That is roughly the maximum growth allowed for a “micro” operation.

“I am destined to be a craft cannabis grower and you know what, I’m doing it,” said Simonowits.

Health Canada has given him the green light to proceed with construction and he is now in the process of getting his development permit from the City of Edmonton, which he currently has conditional approval.

Playing the role of sativa Santa this year would have been a merry prospect, said Calgary candy-maker Brad Churchill.

But federal regulator Health Canada’s meticulously measured approach in approving production of licensed cannabis snacks and other derivatives has put those edible elves on hold.

“It’s disappointing in the standpoint of not having it in the stores for the holiday season,” said Churchill, owner of Choklat.

“(Federal approvals are) taking longer than it really should but, at the end of the day, the wheels of progress are grinding.”

In one way, the gradual rollout of the next generating of legal cannabis products — which were officially legalized Oct. 17 — comes as a relief, said Churchill.