Broken Coast Cannabis is a medical cannabis producer on Vancouver Island, growing inside a 12,000 sq ft envelope about halfway between Nanaimo and Victoria. With 14 growing rooms on two floors, they currently produce 11 varieties in a rotating harvest schedule. 6 strains are currently available and the company plans on releasing several others in the coming months based on customer feedback for various strains and profiles.

RCMP have raided a commercial garage in Alonsa, west of Lake Manitoba, and dismantled a marijuana grow operation in a two-stage operation.

An RCMP statement described conditions inside the garage as "hazardous" and said officers from nearby Ste. Rose du Lac first had to vacate the building on Wednesday and disconnect power to ensure it was safe to go inside. 

Officers, bolstered by the RCMP Federal and Serious Organized Crime Unit, entered the property on Thursday and dismantled the grow-op, seizing 65 plants and drug paraphernalia.

A 45-year-old man from Alonsa, was arrested and charged with production of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. He has been released from custody and will appear in Dauphin Provincial Court on September 15.

A landmark deal to grow a high-strain medicinal cannabis on Norfolk Island for export to Canada is in jeopardy, with the Australian government reviewing the decision.

Last week, Perth-based AusCann Group Holdings was granted a licence by the Norfolk Island government, a self-governing external Australian territory, to grow a high-grade medicinal strain of cannabis. AusCann intends to export its first crop to Canada by July next year.

However, the granting of the licence came after the Australian government passed legislation to abolish Norfolk’s Island parliament and replace it with a local council, which means the island government is effectively in caretaker mode while its laws are brought in line with Australian ones.

High priced cancer drugs get rushed approvals despite poor trial methodology and little effect on the longevity of patients, cautions Dr. Joel Lexchin, a physician and researcher at the School of Health Policy and Management in the Faculty of Health.

“Patients and their doctors should demand that regulators require pharma companies to provide clear evidence of clinical effectiveness of the drugs, resulting from rigorous methodology,” suggests Lexchin. “Drug agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicine Agency (EMA) don’t actually look at whether people live longer.”

In the absence of federal leadership on the issue, B.C. municipalities are lobbying for authority to regulate marijuana dispensaries. That is not all they should be pushing for.

If marijuana is to be available for sale in B.C., as it is in Vancouver, a system needs to be put in place to ensure sellers and buyers pay taxation.

Because of the ad hoc nature of developments relating to pot sales here, this crucial aspect of the enterprise appears to be falling through the cracks.

Lower Mainland municipalities want a national debate on the pot dispensaries, and recently submitted a resolution on the topic to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, holding a convention in June.

Health Canada was forced to create a safety net to prevent abuse after a handful of forged authorizations for medicinal marijuana surfaced, according to emails obtained by CBC News.

Emails released through federal Access to Information laws show that Health Canada was made aware of at least five instances last year where doctors’ signatures were forged on applications for medical marijuana.

In a related problem, specialists were also concerned general practitioners were falsely using their names to approve licences for patients.

In 2012, one specialist physician in British Columbia flagged to Health Canada that another doctor was using his name without his permission to authorize applications under a Category 2 classification.

The shuttered marijuana vapour lounge in Vanier vows to reopen as early as this week after the city slapped it with a cease-and-desist order and a hefty fine last Friday.

On its Facebook page, BuzzOn says it is “optimistic” it can reopen its doors to the public by Friday after speaking with a lawyer about rezoning the building.

City officials visited the Montreal Road lounge to serve a notice that BuzzOn is in violation of the building code and must be rezoned as a place of assembly.

Owner Wayne Robillard accused the city of using a “strong-arm tactic” to shut the place down for good.

The city said in a statement the cease-and-desist papers were issued from a safety perspective to keep the business in line with building code requirements.

The president of the University of Ottawa says he is not involved in a medical marijuana operation that his wife and one of their children are setting up.

Allan Rock issued a statement Wednesday contradicting a published report that suggested he has a role in a company looking to call itself RockGarden Medicinals.

“I have no involvement with this application nor the proposed business venture that is being planned,” Rock said in a statement to the Citizen. “I am not a director, shareholder, officer, employee or advisor of the company they have incorporated to carry on their business should they be granted a licence. I do not attend meetings, provide counsel, or participate in any other way in the proposed venture.”

When Licensed Producers under the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) think of the long process of obtaining a medical document from a patient or physician, they often imagine it as a huge hurtle to overcome - a pain in the neck. Health Canada allows for e-prescribing or secure fax for obtaining the original medical document - a method not many MMPR applicants know of.

CANNABIS CULTURE - A public hearing regarding the City of Vancouver'sproposed regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries will be held at City Hall on Wednesday, June 10, 2015, at 6 PM.

To register to speak at the hearing, members of the public can send an email to publichearing@vancouver.ca or call 604-829-4238 after 8:30 am on Friday, May 29.

Citizens have been invited to provide comments to Mayor and Council atmayorandcouncil@vancouver.ca and they will be distributed to Council in advance of the hearing.