As of March, the value of Canada’s six largest cannabis companies totalled almost $43 billion—that’s a lot of cash (or kush).

But not all the buzz is reserved for the biggest firms.

Take these four B.C.-based companies, all of which have the potential to play in the pot space for the foreseeable future.

BURB

CATEGORY: Cannabis products, accessories and clothing

LOCATION: Its first, flagship store just opened in Port Coquitlam…on 4/20

ACTIVE SINCE: 2019

Retailers across Canada are struggling with a shortage of all cannabis, but there's one product they're especially desperate to keep on shelves: cannabidiol or CBD, a non-intoxicating extract vaunted for its purported health benefits.

The extract, most commonly sold as oil, has been promoted as a natural cure for pain, anxiety and insomnia, despite limited medical research. Many customers are coming in asking for it, especially first-time and older users, store owners say.

"I don't think the licensed producers really realized how popular CBD was, so there's none available, really,'' said Krystian Wetulani, founder of City Cannabis Co. in Vancouver.

Cannabis was legalized in Canada last year, but that hasn't made it easier for people who want to buy weed on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Health workers and addiction experts say new municipal rules and licensing regimesare leaving people at the epicentre of the country's opioid crisis with no legal options if they want to use cannabis, which can help them kick more dangerous drugs.

A push by British Columbia's health officer to decriminalize drug possession in the fight against overdoses isn't getting support from the province's solicitor general.

Dr. Bonnie Henry called on the B.C. government Wednesday to make drug possession a health issue and not a crime.

"The current criminal justice based approach framework in B.C. and in Canada create barriers to accessing prevention and treatment services," she told a news conference. "With the crisis we are dealing with in B.C., and the impact on our families and communities, I believe we can and do need to do more."

British Columbians are satisfied with how the province has managed its part in the legalization of cannabis in the six months since the laws changed, but feel it can go one step further with drug testing at work, according to a new poll.

The poll, administered by Vancouver-based Research Co., suggests most people in B.C. (79 per cent) were satisfied with the government’s decision to establish 19 years as the legal age to purchase, sell or consume marijuana and restrict smoking to areas where tobacco is allowed.

Sixty per cent of respondents said employers should now be able to administer drug testing to any employee. Residents over the age of 55 strongly supported this idea (68 per cent).

Cannabis has been legal for many months now but the controversy over Vancouver's annual 4/20 weed celebration event hasn't subsided.

The Vancouver Park Board held an emergency meeting Monday night and passed a motion asking organizers to cancel a scheduled concert by Cypress Hill, in an effort to control crowd size.

"I consider that request to be ridiculous," said Dana Larsen, one of the organizers of 4/20. "Obviously, we're not going to be cancelling."

Despite cannabis now being legal, he's adamant the need to protest isn't over.

This month, Canada will observe six months since marijuana was legalized. The culmination of a Justin Trudeau campaign promise made in 2015 took longer than originally anticipated and has endured its share of setbacks.

At this point, there is a minuscule number of stand-alone marijuana stores operating across the country and most legal sales are being conducted through the mail. British Columbia’s government calculated it would garner $200 million in cannabis tax revenue over the first three years after legalization, but the figure was recently revised to “just” $68 million. The slow process to open stores is partly to blame for this alteration.

Cannabis is forbidden to players in most professional and collegiate sports leagues despite an increasing number of jurisdictions across North America legalizing the plant for recreational use.

While most leagues have yet to change policies to enable players to use cannabis, the Canadian Football League (CFL) is the exception, and it is the most accepting of cannabis of the sports leagues that have Vancouver teams.

In a statement to Business in Vancouver, the CFL noted its drug-testing policy for players “has never included testing for marijuana or other recreational drugs.” Instead, the league said, “it focuses on performance–enhancing drugs. That will continue to be the case.”

B.C. rang up $19.1 million in legal cannabis sales in 2018, just seven per cent of Canada’s overall marijuana revenue, even though the province makes up nearly 14 per cent of the national population, according to an analysis by Arcview Market Research.

In Alberta, however, legal sales — both recreational and medical — added up to $216.5 million, about 28 per cent of the nation’s overall legal revenue although that province is only 12 per cent of Canada’s population.

Lucia, a Colombian girl, suffered severe epileptic seizures since adolescence. Although she visited many doctors and specialists, at 35 years of age she had not found anything that would help her treat the debilitating symptoms of her illness.

One day she was able to travel to Canada where a specialist recommended a brand of medicinal cannabis oil that, as soon as she tried, significantly mitigated her ailments. Her spasms were less violent and her triggers less frequent.

Upon returning to her home country, however, Lucia could not locate the medicine that had benefited her so much. Although she tried many cannabidiol presentations available on her local market, none gave her the same result she had experienced in Canada.