Canadian medical marijuana companies are buzzing with news that one of Canada’s leading investment banks, Jacob Securities, is walking a group of Australian investors through the local scene with a view to either bringing an established North American brand onto the ASX, or putting together a large buy-in of an established local player.

Jeff Maser, VP of Institutional Sales at Jacob, told Stockhouse this morning, “Yes, we’re introducing [an Australian investor group] to the MMJ companies.”

“Money from all over the world is coming to Toronto. [The city] has become a global leader in marijuana finance, even for marijuana companies operating outside Canada.”

VICTORIA, BC, March 11, 2015 /CNW/ - T-Bird Pharma Inc., a pharmaceutical company focused on developing premium quality medical marijuana products and a licensed producer ("LP") to cultivate marijuana under the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (Canada) ("MMPR"), is pleased to announce that it, together with certain of its shareholders, has entered into an agreement with Medna Biosciences Inc. (“Medna”) whereby Medna will acquire (the “Escrow Transfer”) a total of 20,156,790 common shares of T-Bird (45% of the Company’s issued shares) from five of its founding shareholders, including its former CEO and CFO, at a price of $0.21 per share.

In this episode of FUEL, Canadian Olympic Snowboarder Ross Rebagliati embraces his infamous past and embarks on a new venture.

Written by Greg Engle

I have dedicated my entire career to the health care industry because it's important to me to spend my life doing something that helps people. Now, after more than 25 years, I have decided to leave behind the big pharma establishment in order to embark on a new journey on the cutting edge of health care, as the first CEO of Tilray, Canada's leading licensed producer of medical cannabis.

Here are the top five reasons why:

The time has come for the Canadian government to legalize marijuana.

That's the stance championed by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health through a policy statement on cannabis use released by the organization in the fall of 2014.

While the health risks associated with the use of cannabis products are impossible to ignore, CAMH says, the Toronto-based teaching hospital and research centre is calling for the legalization of the drug in Canada with strict regulations to control distribution.

Hot on the heels of landmark drug law reforms in NSW a struggling local gold prospector Capital Mining has struck a deal to reinvent itself as $25 million Australian-listed, Canada-based, medical marijuana company.

Broken Coast Cannabis will become the second legal weed business to trade on the Australian Securities Exchange.

The medical marijuana industry has boomed in North America and Europe over the past few years as more jurisdictions have legalised it, and is now a budding sector in Australia ahead of expectations for local law reform.  

"Our experience in Canada has shown us that being in the forefront of this new and fast-growing industry is key," Broken Coast Cannabis co-founder and general manager John Moeller said.

An Australian mining firm has purchased a substantial stake in a Canadian medical cannabis business for cash and stock options.

Capital Mining said it paid $7 million in cash plus $25 million in stock options for 49% of Broken Coast Cannabis, one of 14 cultivators that hold a distribution license in Canada.

The mining company also will buy Cannan Growers in its entirety for $250,000 plus $1 million in stock options. Both marijuana companies are based in British Columbia.

Surrey’s fire chief has a “cultural bias” against licensed marijuana grow-ops, which is why he wrongly concludes they are more dangerous than regular residences, an expert witness is expected to testify at a Vancouver court case.

Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis, an adjunct criminology professor at the University of the Fraser Valley and an expert witness for the federal government in a constitutional challenge of Canada’s medical marijuana laws, concluded there was a higher incidence of fires at homes with both illicit and legal marijuana grow-ops.

Garis will be called as a witness Monday when the case, which started two weeks ago, resumes in Federal Court in Vancouver.

Jonathan Zaid, a 22 year old third year student at the University of Waterloo, has recently begun making waves in the Canadian cannabis world by announcing he was able to get his medical marijuana costs covered by his studentmedical insurance plan.

Whonnock residents fear their bucolic way of life will be ruined if plans for a large medical marijuana greenhouse are approved by Health Canada.

The conflict began about a year ago after a company purchased 15 acres of farmland in an area surrounded by smaller acreages. The property, which is in the Agricultural Land Reserve, was traditionally used for intensive agriculture, according to its new owner, Dan Sutton, managing director of Tantalus Labs. The company plans to continue that tradition, building a 40,000-square-foot greenhouse to grow marijuana.

But neighbours say the new crop is unlike any other farm use.

“We’re not against this industry, the problem is the location,” said Sylvie Jensen. “Industrial grow-ops don’t belong in a place like this.”