Residents of a New Brunswick island community that can only be accessed from a bridge attached to the U.S. mainland are outraged, alleging that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents have been opening and searching their Canada Post mail.

Campobello locals suspect that the inspections by U.S. agents have been going on for months. Mail arrives via a bonded Canada Post truck that briefly travels through Maine before re-entering Canada to make deliveries.

Glen Herrington wants to start a weed farm, but his neighbours aren’t so sure.

Herrington is applying for a micro-cultivation licence to grow medical cannabis on his 10-acre property in Nasonworth, just south of Fredericton.

If the application is approved, he will be allowed to use 2,150 sq. ft. of his land to grow cannabis, indoors and/or outdoors. Herrington intends to sell his crop to another producer, preferably to make CBD oil, and expects the farm would create five new jobs in the region.

Canadian licensed producer Zenabis has increased its market share in the New Brunswick cannabis market since launching Re-Up, a lower-cost brand of flower and pre-rolls.

The Atholville, N.B.-based company has produced data indicating a 38 percent market share of sales in Cannabis NB stores across the province for the period concluding in October 2019. The number indicates a spike in sales of the brand, which rang in at 20 percent this past July.

Zenabis credits its bump in sales to the Re-Up brand, which the company hopes will give it a competitive edge against the cheaper prices offered on the unlicensed market and incentivize consumers who source their cannabis from illicit distributors to consider purchasing from the legal market.

New Brunswick is adding illicit cannabis-related activity to the list of offences that can be reported for investigation, facilitating the narc-ing out of one’s neighbours for residents of the Atlantic province.

Canadian pharmacy giant Shoppers Drug Mart has expanded its online medical cannabis platform to Canada's East Coast.

As of today, residents of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island can go online on the company's website to make their purchase, which will then be mailed to them.

Residents who don't currently have the proper medical documentation authorizing the use of medical cannabis can get it by setting up a consultation online.

"There's access to telemedicine where a person can have an individual consultation with a physician who can determine whether cannabis is right for them," said Mike Boivin, a pharmacist consultant from Ontario who is a member of the Shoppers Drug Mart Advisory Board on Medical Cannabis.

The deadline for Saint John cannabis dispensaries to shut down their operations was Thursday, and most seem to have gotten the message.

Giggles Gaming Cafe on Union Street, the Green Room on Rothesay Road and King Canna on Germain Street have all stopped selling THC products. 

The businesses got letters from the Saint John Police Force saying the properties they were operating out of were "an instrument of unlawful activity," because police believe they were selling cannabis illegally.

The letters said the places had two weeks to stop selling cannabis or their properties would be seized using the Civil Forfeiture Act.

Laura Newman, an employee at King Canna, said the store has stopped selling all THC products, and customers are "not pleased."

Cannabis prohibition may have ended just over one year ago, however, pot has a long history in New Brunswick.

The story of cannabis in New Brunswick begins nearly two centuries ago, when maritime hemp growers used their crop for ship sails, ropes and clothes. Late European settlers popularized the use of hemp in the 19th century for everyday uses.

According to a letter dating back to 1892, written by the provincial secretary of agriculture Julius L. Inche, hemp never was a robust industry. Cannabis was being harvested on the southern border of New Brunswick, in an area now known as Edmunston. Inche was less than optimistic about it being a profitable crop.

Police in Saint John, New Brunswick are trying a new tactic to eradicate illicit cannabis dispensaries: target their landlords.

Multiple landlords are reported to have received letters informing them that their properties are being used as an “instrument of unlawful activity” and giving them a specific time frame to comply with provincial law or face property seizure under the Civil Forfeiture Act.

A little over a year ago Canada legalized cannabis nationwide. Canada became the first G-7 nation to legalize cannabis for adult-use.

Uruguay is the only country to have legalized cannabis for adult use prior to Canada doing so, however, Uruguay’s model differs from Canada’s model.

Each province in Canada adopted its own regulatory framework in some aspects, with some provinces allowing robust competition between cannabis companies.

New Brunswick took a different approach.

The Monopoly New Brunswick Model

For the past year, a Crown corporation has served as the sole legal cannabis industry entity in New Brunswick.