Toronto Mayor John Tory (open John Tory's policard) on Monday reiterated his support for cannabis decriminalization as a “positive step forward for Canada” though there are no immediate plans to follow Vancouver’s lead to regulate how pot is sold.

Last week, Vancouver became the first city in Canada to approve new rules to license and regulate the dozens of outlets that supply pot to medical marijuana users.

Tory said it’s inevitable “that we’re going to have to have some discussion going forward” about the rules governing pot sales. He predicted that marijuana legalization is going to be a major issue in the upcoming federal election campaign.

In a city with dispensaries as common as coffee shops, Denver is undoubtedly the epicenter of the legal marijuana movement. And if you're in the business of bud, it's a good place to be: Colorado accounted for a third of the country's 2.7 billion dollar marijuana market last year.

But with being America's fastest growing industry, comes growing pains. Marijuana is still illegal on the federal level, which has led to conflicting state laws, restrictive regulations, and endless problems for cash-only marijuana business owners and operators.

VICE News meets the investors cashing in on the green rush and finds out how fractured marijuana laws are causing the American market to miss out.

Ottawa’s first centre for access to medical marijuana is now open. The centre located in the Hintonburg neighbourhood is owned by National Access Cannabis, a company which provides education and guidance with physician and pharmacist support for legal access to Health Canada’s Medical Marijuana program.

“We are excited to give Ottawa residents the resources and professional guidance needed to access Health Canada’s legal medical cannabis program safely and responsibly with pharmacist and physician support,” said Gulwant Bajwa, CEO of National Access Cannabis.

Members wishing to use this service are connected with a physician for a medical assessment and NAC will help with selecting a licensed producer and submitting the required Health Canada medical documents.

Research would appear to indicate that cannabis users aren’t all that sensitive to price. With a few exceptions of free market economics where customers can just buy from a cheaper source, such as walking in to a different dispensary in Vancouver and/or reverting to the black market, data suggests that cannabis users are willing to pay higher prices for the same product. This is particularly impactful when we consider under Health Canada’s MMPR program medicalusers are somewhat locked into a specific Licensed Producer.

The B.C. Compassion Club Society intends to take the fight to city hall — despite the recently passed marijuana regulations — to keep the east Vancouver location it’s operated out of since 1997.

After considering shutting down their operations for good in light of new regulations on medicinal marijuana dispensaries, the B.C. Compassion Club Society is going to appeal to city councillors to stay put.

Since 1997, the non-profit society has operated in East Vancouver — dispensing medicinal marijuana and offering other holistic services.

A few years later, a public school opened across the street. Under Vancouver’s new regulations, the society must relocate.

On June 11, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down a provision in the country's medical marijuana law prohibiting the possession of marijuana extracts. The ruling potentially opened the door to the production of medical marijuana derivatives including tinctures, edibles, pills, and oils — and American investors took note.

The Vancouver Police Department's new Chief Constable Adam Palmer agrees with federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose that the city's flourishing marijuana dispensaries are breaking the law — but he isn't planning a crackdown.

"They are illegal, so the minister is correct, there's no issue there," said Palmer Monday.

Last week, after Vancouver city council passed a groundbreaking bylaw to regulate and license the city's roughly 100 pot dispensaries, Ambrose issued a strongly-worded statement that she was "deeply disappointed."

"We expect the police to enforce the law," she wrote.

CanniMed Ltd. of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan—a Government of Canada licensed supplier of pharmaceutical-grade medical marijuana—offers a free app on the Canadian iTunes App Store that can be used by Canadian medical marijuana patients to keep track of the “Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR)” 30 day allowable quantity possession limits. The CanniMed Calculator lets users record their MMPR shipments and set notifications when they can reorder.

National Post readers respond to the question, “Should Canada’s electoral system be changed?”

Our strong system

• The last thing this country needs is electoral change such as proportional representation. Since Confederation, Canadians have been extremely fortunate to live under such a strong and robust electoral system. We don’t need a process whereby the Rhinoceros Party can influence the balance of power.
  Stephen Flanagan, Ottawa.

Electronic voting

One of Vancouver Island's largest medical marijuana growing companies announced Thursday it is laying off 61 employees.

Tilray opened its Nanaimo facility in 2014 and at its peak employed nearly 200 people, giving it a high profile as a major employer in the region.

The company insists the layoffs will not have any impact on "the thousands of patients we serve," according to a statement from Tilray CEO Greg Engel.

"Tilray is making changes to our operating model to more efficiently serve patients and the MMPR market as it exists today," Engel wrote.

"Tilray is well-capitalized and confident in our long-term business strategy, and we are operating more efficiently than ever before."

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