Health Canada has expanded its roster of licensed medical marijuana companies, adding Aphria Inc. to the list of firms that can grow and sell the drug to patients.

The company was granted its permit Thursday, bringing the total number of licensed medical marijuana producers in Canada to 14 since the new program began. It is the first new licence Health Canada has granted since the summer.

Aphria is headed by Vic Neufeld, the former chief executive officer of vitamin giant Jamieson Laboratories, along with Leamington, Ontario-based greenhouse operators Cole Cacciavillani and John Cervini, whose facilities grow flowers and vegetables for large retail chains across the country.

In his workshop in a 200-year-old barn in rural Quebec, Boyd Pellow handcrafts electric guitars using traditional luthier methods to create beautiful instruments with optimal sound. The guitars are uniquely designed, using classic styles of the 50s and 60s for inspiration, and aside from the marijuana leaves emblazoned on each headstock, there’s no indication that there is anything at all out of the ordinary about the instruments... until it comes out that they’re built from hemp. 

In his workshop in a 200-year-old barn in rural Quebec, Boyd Pellow handcrafts electric guitars using traditional luthier methods to create beautiful instruments with optimal sound. The guitars are uniquely designed, using classic styles of the 50s and 60s for inspiration, and aside from the marijuana leaves emblazoned on each headstock, there’s no indication that there is anything at all out of the ordinary about the instruments... until it comes out that they’re built from hemp. 

It's an app for the times.

CanniMed Ltd. in Saskatoon has developed a program for medical marijuana users.

It cross-references how much a patient smokes every day with their supply. It then calculates when they need to re-order.

Brent Zettl is CanniMed's president.

He said this is a response to the rules around ordering medical marijuana – not a patient's forgetfulness.

"Every other prescription they just walk into the pharmacy, ten minutes later, assuming there's no line up, they've got their prescription filled. In this case, it's not that convenient yet," he said.

"Again, it's trying to be patient-friendly in the reminder, just like any other medication."

The app is free, and works on Iphones, Androids and Blackberries.

Hemp is a fast growing, water efficient crop, which can thrive in the worst soil and can be used for a bevy of products, including paper,food, and medicine. It was around thousands of years ago and it’s still being grown today, just not as much since being banned in the US decades ago. It’s got a bad reputation, being guilty by association since its cousin crop is marijuana.

On April 1, Uruguay's legalisation of marijuana, the very first among the world, takes effect. To prepare for the influx of demand, the small South American nation has taken its sights on Canada to fill in the gaps.

Ratified in December 2013, Uruguay legalised the growing and selling of marijuana as a source of revenue. Uruguay residents may grow six marijuana plants in their homes per year, or as much as 480 grams (about 17 ounces). Smoking clubs with 15 to 45 members can grow up to 99 plants per year.

However, cultivation processes and operations take time way beyond the four months since the bill was thumbed up by the Uruguay Senate.

The first cannabis-dispensing machine in Canada has begun operating in Vancouver, following on from the first machine installed recently in the US state of Colorado. The difference? The Canadian machine doesn’t ID you.

Despite the controversy surrounding the plant and the endless bickering that has marked the discourse around it, the machine looks strangely ordinary and even less threatening than a cigarette pack, with big green leaves and certainly no indication that it contains something that is so hotly debated.

VANCOUVER — Purple Kush is considered a lucrative marijuana strain, quick to flower and capable of producing fat, dark green buds that bring to mind berries when sniffed.

Growers love the stuff; so do many consumers. Purple Kush is renowned for its euphoric, long-lasting high.

It was the only strain offered by B.C.-based Greenleaf Medicinals Ltd., one of just a dozen companies that received Health Canada permits to produce and sell medical-grade dried marijuana, under a new regulatory regime that went into effect April 1.