Despite Canada approaching its third anniversary of cannabis legalization, some municipalities still ban licensed shops. Other countries talking about legalizing cannabis also seem inclined toward minimizing legal access. But my research suggests those policies are probably counterproductive.

Canada legalized recreational cannabis on Oct. 17, 2018. After initial product shortages eased in spring 2019, store openings and retail sales soared. Monthly sales hit $339 million in July 2021 and the national store total now exceeds 2,600.

As the puck dropped on another NHL season on Tuesday night, kickstarting the 104th season of play, the league is well-positioned to lead the four major sports leagues out of the Stone Age and into a new frontier regarding cannabis.

Fans may recall that during the 2020 postseason, when NHL teams were forced to finish out the postseason in a bubble, reports of players accessing weed gummies for help relaxing started to leak.

The reality is that cannabis use among NHL players has never been much of a secret. If you don’t believe us, ask former Stanley Cup Winning Detroit Red Wing Darren McCarty, who opened up his own cannabis dispensaries across Michigan following a decade-plus long career of evading the league’s anti-drug program.

Canopy Growth (WEED.TO)(CGC) is looking to dominate the cannabis gummies market with its latest option-based deal hingeing on pot becoming federally legal in the United States. 

The Smiths Falls, Ont.-based company announced a deal on Thursday to acquire privately-held Wana Brands, a Colorado-based cannabis edibles brand that claims to lead the category by market share across North America.

Canopy says the transaction is similar in structure to its planned takeover of New York-based multi-state operator Acreage Holdings (ACRHF), a landmark deal when it was announced in 2019 that required federally permissible pot sales in order to be fully consummated. 

Cannabis legalization is quickly spreading across the globe, most recently in the United States. And while the cannabis industry creates new opportunities like holistic care and jobs, it’s also creating impact for one of the largest communities in the world — mothers.

Women today who’ve given birth or have become primary caregivers have been trading wine for weed, and it’s catching on fast. A recent study found that out of 855 women who’ve tried THC or CBD to reduce anxiety and pain rated positive benefits were rated up to 91 percent. Yet even with ongoing research and positive testimonials, mothers who’ve never tried cannabis before are afraid of giving it a try at all.

The majority of cannabis companies operating in Canada are still struggling to access banking services, even after almost three years of federal legalisation in the country.

The use, possession, production, and supply of cannabis were all legalised in Canada on the 1st of November 2018. Since then, thousands of licensed cannabis businesses, from cultivators and manufacturers to retailers, have popped up all over the country.

IGNITE International Brands, Ltd. (CSE:BILZ, OTCQX: BILZF) (“ IGNITE ” or the “ Company ”), a global consumer packaged goods company, today announced that it is discontinuing its cannabis business in Canada.

Alternative Finance Network (AFN), an independent financing network serving cannabis and hemp companies in the U.S. and Canada, announced today that it is bringing new Merger & Acquisition (M&A) financing options to cannabis companies as the M&A market continues to soar in the cannabis space.

As the third anniversary of Canada's legalization of cannabis approaches, retailers say they continue to struggle to find access to basic financial services from banks.

Industry experts say decades of stigma, as well as international pressure, continue to plague the fledgling industry, forcing shop owners to dig into their savings to open their small businesses and limiting the sector's growth.

Charles Varabioff, owner of Kingsway Cannabis, says finding a bank to take on his business account was next to impossible.

"I tried every single one of them. And every one [of the banks] was 'no, no, no, no, no,'" he said.

Branch managers, he says, would tell him the cannabis industry is too high-risk.

Canada was promising to be a leader in legislation, cultivation and patient care and access throughout the industry but bureaucracy, bad manufacturing practices and lack of care have made Canada an unwilling example on how not to implement a successful cannabis strategy.

Recreational cannabis has been legal and available since 2018, yet two years on billions have been wiped off the values of the top Cannabis companies and why is the Canadian cannabis community still sourcing their much loved bud from the black market?

A CANADIAN who claimed he brought $230,000 worth of marijuana into the country because he was under the impression that medicinal marijuana was legal in The Bahamas was yesterday fined $50,000.

William McDonald, 60, was arrested at Lynden Pindling International Airport, after officers found 42.2 pounds of Indian hemp among his personal belongings on October 4.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess dangerous drugs with the intent to supply, possession of dangerous drugs with the intent to supply, conspiracy to import dangerous drugs and importation of dangerous drugs, during his arraignment before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle Davis.