MARKHAM, Ont. – From the outside, MedReleaf’s production facility in Markham, Ont., doesn’t look like much. It’s a large rectangular building about three stories tall, shorter but wider than a football field, and camouflaged by an unassuming white exterior with few windows. There are no signs or company logos to tempt inquiring minds or mischief-minded passers-by.

That’s partly by design, CEO Neil Closner said.

“We’re very low-key,” he said. “We don’t want people knowing who we are, what we do, where we do it.

“The product we have inside the building is quite valuable.”

The product: Medical marijuana.

New zoning tweaks aimed at controlling medical marijuana farms in rural areas

UXBRIDGE -- The Township has started the process of changing its rural zoning requirements to allow more control over potential medical marijuana farms within Uxbridge’s borders.

Because the industry is regulated by the federal government, applicants for medical marijuana licences do not have to seek permission from the municipality where they wish to locate, but simply notify them of the application. So far two applicants have notified Uxbridge of their intent to locate operations in the township.

Police are seeking the public's help in controlling the production of illegal marijuana in Norfolk County.

The 2015 growing season is underway and it promises to be a good one for illegal producers of marijuana. Norfolk OPP advise the public to be cautious and to report suspicious activity associated with marijuana production to the authorities.

“Typically, these illicit crops are located in swamps, cornfields, wooded areas, along rivers and on rural rental properties obscured from view,” Const. Ed Sanchuk of the Norfolk OPP said in a news release. “Marijuana plants are bright green in colour and can grow between three and five feet tall and give off a distinctive strong, pungent musty odour.”

Rob Thibault is happy to have his life back.

He was part of a small rally every year Canada Day to celebrate and educate people about medicinal marijuana.

After a motorcycle accident that left him with injuries to his knee, he went through the gamut of prescribed painkillers without much success.

Thibault said that three years ago, he was in a wheelchair and a lot heavier than he is now.

“This is what I use for pain relief,” he said as he took a drag from a joint.

This was the fifth year the Niagara Cannabis Club held the event in front of the St. Catharines courthouse.

“There is a huge stigma, it affects people,” said Thibault. “We’re about protecting people from that.”

There are few, if any, facilities like this in North America.

ABcann Medicinals Inc. opened its door to the media Wednesday afternoon.

The medicinal marijuana company has been operating near the end of a quiet road on the outskirts of Napanee since the new year.

The facility was constructed in an existing building, but from the outer walls inward is all brand new and high-tech.

When fully up and running, chief operating officer Geoff Davis said, ABcann Medicinals will be able to produce from between 36 to 55 kilograms (80 to 120 pounds) of medicinal marijuana per month -- enough of the drug to supply about 2,500 patients.

"Hopefully, we are going to grow and have more jobs for the people in Napanee and Greater Napanee," Davis said.

A Vancouver, B.C., company has bought a business center at 2010 Grandview Road for $1.2 million and plans to lease space to licensed marijuana growers and processors.

Chlormet Technologies bought the 9.7-acre parcel in Ferndale through its Washington state subsidiary PacCan Industries, according to a company news release.

The seller was Excelsior Mortgage Equity Fund of Lake Oswego, Ore.

The property is zoned general business.

MedReleaf Corp. a leading Canadian manufacturer of medical-grade cannabis has announced that it has entered into an exclusive partnership in New York State with Compassionate Care Center of New YorkTM (CCCNYTM) a leading biopharmaceutical company applying to become one of five Registered Organizations authorized in New York State to serve the condition-specific palliative needs of qualifying patients with safe and accessible pharmaceutical-grade therapeutics derived from the cannabis plant.

TORONTO — A new law has been passed which imposes hefty fines for driving under the influence of marijuana in this province. I thought this was a good time to look at what evidence we actually have for the effects of marijuana on driving and accidents.