The mother of a child with a rare, life-threatening illness says nurses are refusing to administer the medicine that most effectively treats his seizures — all because of hospital politics surrounding children and medical marijuana.

Maria Niembro’s 11-year-old son, Francesco, has CFC Syndrome (Cardio-Facio-Cutaneous). “There are only 450 people like him in the world,” Niembro says. “I hit the lottery with him.”

That lottery though, is one no parent would ever wish to win. Francesco is non verbal, has severe developmental delays, is fed through a G-tube, and is plagued by life-threatening seizures.

His bedroom looks like a hospital room. From the industrial bed, to the dresser loaded with medications, to the cot where Maria sleeps beside him.

Tweed is taking its grass party to new heights with a summer bash on the lawn of its marijuana factory in Smiths Falls.

On Saturday, Aug. 13, the licensed marijuana producer is inviting 5,000 guests to its Front Yard Shindig right on the sprawling yard of Tweed’s headquarters. The “family friendly” concert is free and will include local bands BlakDenim, a hip-hop, funk and soul act, and The Balconies, an alternative ensemble, as well as East Coast indie rockers The Joel Plaskett Emergency.

Food trucks and water stations will be onsite, and there will be ample free parking.

In marijuana dispensaries across Ottawa, customers are snapping up dried weed, cannabis brownies and hash, while authorities at every level stand by.

Federal politicians condemn the dispensaries as illegal businesses selling products that may be unsafe. They want Canada’s drug laws enforced, but that’s up to the police.

Ottawa police say they have been monitoring the dispensaries since the first one opened in November 2015. They don’t reveal details of “ongoing investigations.”

There is a push on to make sure the Windsor area is at the forefront when Canada legalizes the recreational use of marijuana, and it’s coming from a surprising source.

The Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce wants input when the federal legislation is drafted to ensure the area gets its fair share of the potential $5-billion dollar industry.

“We have an emerging cannabis marketplace and we want to be at the forefront in the industry for whatever the future holds,” Matt Marchand, CEO of the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce, said Thursday.

“Windsor-Essex is a global leader in agricultural production and research. We have skilled talent in the agricultural community, so we want to make sure the economic benefits for Essex County are maximized.”

As the federal government explores how to properly legalize marijuana, hundreds of dispensaries have sprung up in Vancouver and Toronto – all of them selling a product that is still illegal and having no obligations in terms of labelling, safety or quality assurance.

Dispensary proponents say concerns about contaminants amount to fear mongering – akin to the sort of propaganda that brought the world the infamous 1936 film Reefer Madness. The government favours a heavily regulated market and argues that dispensaries can’t be trusted to provide consumers with a sterile and safe product. These entrepreneurs, Ottawa argues, need to be held to the same stringent standards required of the 31 companies licensed to sell medical marijuana to consumers through mail order.

Canopy Growth Corp., the first marijuana producer in North America to graduate to a major exchange, erased early gains on Tuesday, closing down 1.2 per cent in its first day on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The stock, which previously traded on the junior Venture exchange, had surged 25 per cent during a three-day rally, reversing losses for the year.

“Being the first cannabis producing company in North America listed on a major exchange such as the TSX strengthens the sector,” Bruce Linton, chief executive officer of Canopy, said in a statement on Monday. “The addition of Canopy Growth helps signal that the world’s view of cannabis has finally shifted, starting right here in Canada.”

Let lounges sell pot like bars sell alcohol, forum told Group has already designed training course for ‘bud tenders’

Some marijuana advocates want cannabis bars legalized in Toronto. Currently, seven lounges exist for medical marijuana users, but it’s strictly BYOB – “bring your own bud.” (Waubgeshig Rice/CBC)

Marijuana bars that sell pot rather than alcohol should be licensed to operate in Toronto, a city councillor’s forum on marijuana distribution heard Monday.

Ottawa’s marijuana dispensaries are inching closer to becoming legitimate business — if not in the eyes of the law, at least in the eyes of residents.

A new public opinion poll conducted by Forum Research Inc. finds as many as six in 10 respondents say marijuana dispensaries should be allowed to operate in Ottawa, while fewer than a third (32 per cent) said they oppose the pot shops.

Two-thirds of respondents (67 per cent) believe they should be regulated and zoned like any other retail business, while one-in-five said they should be immediately shut down.

A company's plan to transform the remaining section of the former PPG glass plant in Owen Sound into a medical marijuana production facility remains in limbo.

The Toronto-based Canadian Bioceutical Corp.'s application for a licence to produce medical-grade pot has not yet been approved by Health Canada.

“We got some correspondence from them July 8, which is the first correspondence we've got from them in about eight months. They were asking for more information, so I don't know whether that's a good sign or whether that's just part of the process,” company president Scott Boyes said Thursday in an interview.

He said the corporation “absolutely” still intends to operate the facility in Owen Sound if it receives the green light from Health Canada.

In another sign that Canada’s booming marijuana industry has gone corporate, dozens of companies have registered as paid lobbyists ahead of Ottawa’s plan to legalize the drug’s recreational use next spring.

As of March 19, the federal government’s lobbyist registry listed 88 paid positions with interests in marijuana or cannabis. The companies named range from small, independent businesses like Vancouver’s Eden Medicinal Society to large corporations, including the Loblaws chain of more than 2,000 supermarkets across Canada.