Canadian hemp is speeding onto the world stage in the 2022 Winter Olympics opening Friday in Beijing. Calgary, Alberta-based processor Canadian Greenfield Technologies sent more than 60,000 pounds of its NForce-Fiber for use in competition luge and bobsled tracks.

The fibers were used in place of plastic fibers as a concrete strengthener.

The company sells hemp fibers for outdoor construction projects that use sprayed concrete – commonly called shotcrete – such as outdoor pools and skate parks. The fibers strengthen the concrete.

The company also made consumer hemp products, including cat litter, hemp-derived potting soil and food-preservation pads.

The Canada Border Services Agency has seen a significant increase in cannabis seizures in recent years, intercepting thousands of kilograms of product attempting to pass through the country's borders and spurred in part by the growing popularity of online purchases.

Data published online by the CBSA shows that seizures have jumped from nearly 500 kilograms in the 2017-18 fiscal year to nearly 11,800 kilograms in 2020-21, a more than 2,200 per cent increase.

Halfway through the 2021-22 fiscal year, Canada's border officials have intercepted more than 10,500 kilograms of cannabis, with the country easily on pace to surpass the previous year's total.

The data is as of Nov. 29, 2021.

The federal agency previously granted Section 56 exemptions to 19 health care professionals in December 2020, allowing them to take part in a historic training program.

About a month after Health Canada amended the Special Access Program (SAP), allowing physicians to request patient access to restricted drugs, the federal agency has denied dozens of health care professionals Section 56 exemptions to psilocybin for training purposes.

The surprising move was announced on Twitter by B.C.-based TheraPsil, a non-profit dedicated to providing access to psilocybin therapy. 

Médicibis ("Mendo"), a Canadian licensed producer and owner of mendocannabis.ca, an online portal for medical cannabis patients that ships nationwide, announced today it reached an agreement with CannMart to ease patient transition as CannMart Medical have decided to close their medical cannabis site.

"We have reached an agreement with Mendo Cannabis to ease the transfer of our patients and we are confident in their ability to provide the same care and kindness we provided through our cannmart platform, said Daniel Stern, CEO of CannMart

Top Canadian Pot Stocks To Watch In February

In the fall of 2018, Canada became the second country in the world to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Since that time the Canadian cannabis industry has grown dramatically. Last year saw revenues top $3 billion, and that number is expected to double by 2026, according to Statista. (Click here for Benzinga article)

These massive revenues have been driven by first movers in the Canadian market like Tilray Inc., Canopy Growth Corp., and Cronos Group Inc.

Is there an advantage to using aeroponics? The answer seems to be up in the air.

Aeroponics, as most know, is a growing method where fertilized water is misted or sprayed onto roots kept in darkened chambers. 

Nozzle clogging, a historically common problem due to the nutrients in the irrigation solution, is now handled through the use of water pressure sensors and other technologies. 

Collectively however, the entire aeroponics system (sensors, precision nozzles, software, etc.) still incurs higher capital costs than hydroponics. Are the end results worth the added investment?

ATB Capital Markets shared its outlook for Canadian adult-use sales in 2022; meanwhile, Cantor Fitzgerald's Pablo Zuanic warned investors away from the industry.

A new report from market analysts is projecting steady growth for the adult cannabis market in Canada, saying it could potentially reach over C$12 billion.

Also this past week, an analyst shared his bearish view on the cannabis investment landscape in 2022 due to low expectations from the US political system.

Keep reading to find out more cannabis highlights from the past five days.

2021 was hardly a banner year for the Canadian weed company; perhaps its fortunes are about to change.

In losing nearly 35% of its value, Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQ:ACB) was a stinker of a stock in 2021... but to be fair to the company, so were most other big marijuana players based in Canada. Investors largely shunned them as they were battered by numerous challenges, including market saturation and the consumer taste for lower-margin product, not to mention a resurgent coronavirus pandemic.

Aurora was once considered the leading light among Canadian cannabis stocks. Perhaps after a trying 2021, it can regain some of its luster in 2022 with a nice rise in its share price.

It's both good and bad news for the company's investors.

The U.S. pot market is the golden goose for the marijuana industry. According to analysts from cannabis research firm BDSA, it will be worth $34.5 billion by 2025. That's nearly six times the Canadian market, which will only be at a value of $6.1 billion by then. And internationally, cannabis sales may not be much higher at $6.5 billion.

With the U.S. pot market off-limits to Canadian marijuana company Tilray (NASDAQ:TLRY), the business has been forced to look to other markets to grow its operations. And one surprising consequence of that is the business now has more market share in a European country than it does in its home base.