Rob Thibault is happy to have his life back.

He was part of a small rally every year Canada Day to celebrate and educate people about medicinal marijuana.

After a motorcycle accident that left him with injuries to his knee, he went through the gamut of prescribed painkillers without much success.

Thibault said that three years ago, he was in a wheelchair and a lot heavier than he is now.

“This is what I use for pain relief,” he said as he took a drag from a joint.

This was the fifth year the Niagara Cannabis Club held the event in front of the St. Catharines courthouse.

“There is a huge stigma, it affects people,” said Thibault. “We’re about protecting people from that.”

At least four people were arrested as the so-called protest stretched into a long, hot day full of pro-pot propaganda on the concrete steps of the art gallery.

What a bong show.

Pot activists and Vancouver police clashed at a Canada Day demonstration on Wednesday at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

At least four people were arrested as the so-called protest stretched into a long, hot day full of pro-pot propaganda on the concrete steps of the art gallery.

Organizers of the annual Canada Day marijuana protest are facing a frosty reception from authorities this year after refusing a last-minute request from the city to move their hazy party from downtown Vancouver.

Every year on July 1, marijuana activists hold a protest event on the north plaza of the Vancouver Art Gallery. In a letter dated June 9, deputy city manager Sadhu Johnston asked the Cannabis Culture organization, run by pot activist Marc Emery, to cease and desist from advertising the event. Mr. Johnston’s letter said it could only go ahead if the proper permits were secured.

OTTAWA -- A Vancouver city councillor believes other Canadian cities will be forced to follow his city's lead to regulate medicinal marijuana dispensaries as result of changes imposed by the federal Conservative government.

Kerry Jang says he has heard from other municipalities, including Victoria, that are interested in using or adapting Vancouver's new bylaws to manage a recent spike in businesses selling medicinal pot.

The new rules require operators pay a $30,000 licensing fee and locate their businesses at least 300 metres away from schools, community centres and each other. There are roughly 100 locations in the city right now.

Tiny sprouts in a sterile, virtually scent-free room will someday become 18-inch medical marijuana plants, packed into an almost unbearably bright “flowering bay.”

Aurora Cannabis, Alberta’s first commercial marijuana production facility, has just finished its first harvest at its facility near Cremona.

“It was a good crop. We have seven different strains. The buds look good,” said C.E.O Terry Booth.

Tiny marijuana seedlings sit in pots at Alberta's first official medicinal grow operation in Cremona.

The federal government is no longer allowing patients to grow their own supply. The only legal way to access medical cannabis is to get it by courier, from licensed commercial operators.

Long-term cannabis use may lead to weight gain, especially among men, says a new research.

"It is known - and often reported by users - that cannabis causes temporary increase in appetite. As to whether it actually causes weight gain in the long term, the available data is limited," said Didier Jutras-Aswad, professor at University of Montreal in Canada.

"The main finding of our study shows that long-term cannabis use indeed influences weight gain," Jutras-Aswad said.

"But above all, we noted that certain factors drastically modify this effect, including gender, level of use, and concomitant cigarette smoking," Jutras-Aswad added.