Hunter-gathers who take marijuana have a lower rate of infection by parasitic intestinal worms. This has been noted in the Aka people.

The finding has come from scientists based at Washington State University. Data indicates that the more often the hunter-gatherers smoke marijuana, then the less they are infected by intestinal worms. The Aka people are not taking the psychoactive substance for this purpose; the effect is an unintended consequence.

Ashley Good stood on stage, her arms spread above her head in a Y formation. Hundreds of people stood in front of her in the same stance. And then, in unison, they all chanted “How Interesting!”

As of June 2015, there is currently approximately 800,000 square feet of approved medical marijuana production space in Canada, spread out across 25 different facilities from Vancouver Island to New Brunswick. If one factors in the future production capacity of just these currently approved, we see well over 1 million square feet of GMP compliant and/or pharmaceutical-grade medical marijuana production facilities across Canada.

There is a lot of chatter happening at City Hall this month about medicinal-marijuana dispensaries. A public hearing that began June 10 reconvenes on Monday (June 22), when speaker number 173 will take the microphone at a meeting beginning at 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, a group called Smart Approaches to Marijuana Canada (SAM Canada) has emerged as a vocal opponent to the city’s proposed regulatory framework for the over-the-counter sale of cannabis. Pamela McColl, a Vancouver-based member of the national group’s advisory council, told the Straight her organization is more than just talk.

Small business, restaurant and retail industry groups met with Alberta's new NDP labour minister Thursday to fight against a proposed $15 minimum wage.

Premier Rachel Notley has said she plans to raise the minimum wage from $10.20 to $15 by 2018. Industry representatives warn the increase could have unintended effects on the economy.

Richard Truscott, vice-president, Alberta and British Columbia, for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said a wage increase could cut into the slim profit margins earned by small businesses.

"When you add 20 to 30 per cent in terms of overall wage costs, increase that minimum wage by almost 50 per cent for those service-based businesses, it's very hard to eat those costs," he said.

It was more than 20 years ago that Bradford McIntyre began purchasing edible doses of medicinal marijuana from the Compassion Club on Commercial Drive.

Now, as the city looks to finally bring Vancouver’s over-the-counter cannabis sales under a regulatory framework, McIntyre said in a phone interview he’s worried that the plan to normalize patients’ access will have the opposite effect for thousands of people who rely on cannabis but prefer not to smoke the drug.

“Edible medicinal-marijuana products have been available in British Columbia for decades,” McIntyre told the Straight. “The city is out of touch.”

Calgary council has demanded rules in place to limit and regulate medical marijuana businesses, for fear a bout of reefer madness may break out in a city that has a single counselling clinic that cannot dispense the drug.

That one outlet, 420 Clinic, has recently opened in Inglewood, to limited community alarm.

Councillors like Diane Colley-Urquhart have looked anxiously to Vancouver, where 100 illegal dispensaries have sprung up and prompted that city to hurry with regulations for zoning and licensing.

Calgary council unanimously called Tuesday for some set of zoning rules to prevent clustering of marijuana service shops or locating them near schools.

Marijuana Business Daily posted last week’s chart of the week, showing statistics from their Marijuana Business Factbook 2015. Cannabis cultivation in the US is still dominated by indoor marijuana growing facilities. Perhaps what is even more surprising than the domination of indoor grow ops over greenhouse marijuana growers, is that outdoor marijuana production is also six times greater than the marijuana production in greenhouses.

One of Vancouver’s most prestigious annual cultural events has been warned it could face millions of dollars in fines for putting marijuana dispensary advertisements in its program guide.

Health Canada told Vancouver International Jazz Festival organizers to stop distributing the guide immediately, or face a maximum fine of $5 million and up to two years in prison.

“Health Canada does not authorize the operation of retail [marijuana] storefronts. These organizations are illegal. Marijuana advertising is illegal,” spokesman Sean Upton said in an email statement.

As I write in my latest book, The Radical Sales Shift, the B2B buyer of today is different from the buyer of five and fifteen years ago. We’re in the midst of radical shift towards a new way of buying, which means B2B companies have to rethink their marketing and sales strategies.  

Just how is the buyer today different?  Here are seven key ways the New Buyer is different from her predecessors and what it means for how she behaves when buying.