The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, the organization responsible for regulating cannabis retail in Ontario, will begin issuing 30 cannabis Retail Store Authorizations per week.

The AGCO announced the changes in a blog post earlier this week.

The agency has already increased the pace of RSAs in recent months. In December, the AGCO said it would double its approval pace, and went from issuing 40 RSAs per month to 80.

In the most recent announcement, the AGCO says it will now issue 120 RSAs per month.

In a well-timed tweet, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has announced that the province’s 420th cannabis retail store has been authorized to open.

The AGCO, which regulates cannabis retail in Ontario, sent the tweet at 4:20 p.m. on Tuesday.

After an incomprehensibly slow retail rollout, the province has picked up the pace in recent months. In December, the AGCO reported that it would, once again, double the pace of its cannabis Retail Store Authorizations (RSAs) and issue up to 80 each month.

In September of last year, the agency took steps to double its monthly RSAs from 20 to 40 a month.

Almost 300 Circle K stores across Canada are now carrying cannabis gift cards, cannabis retailer Fire & Flower announced in a press release.

The gift cards are available in denominations of $25 to $100, and are redeemable at any Fire & Flower location and online for ‘click and collect’ orders.

Chatham-Kent police have seized more than 25,000 marijuana plants worth $25.5 million after dismantling four illegal grow-ops in the region over the last few months, according to a news release. 

Since September, Chatham-Kent police have dismantled four illegal cannabis operations in the region, three of which were uncovered in January. 

"This past year, a significant amount of cannabis associated to illegal drug operations has been found in Chatham-Kent," Chatham-Kent police chief Gary Conn said in a news release. "These operations will not be tolerated here in our community as we know their actions may lead to violent behaviour, property crimes and organized crime."

Alcanna Inc. said Monday it is spinning off its cannabis retailer division and merging it with YSS Corp. in an all-stock deal that would value the combined company at about $130 million. 

The new company is expected to be renamed Nova Cannabis Inc. and will rebrand most of its retail footprint to Value Buds, a move that acknowledges the growing demand for cheaper cannabis in the Canadian recreational market. 

"This new offering, new Nova Cannabis, is really laser-focused on a segment of the marketplace that's proven to exist -- and that's the value-conscious consumer," said Darren Karasiuk, who will be the chief executive officer of the combined company and is a former chief commercial officer for Aurora Cannabis  Inc., in a broadcast interview. 

NEWS RELEASE
ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE
*************************
In the last two years, members of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Provincial Joint Forces Cannabis Enforcement Team (PJFCET) have tackled illegal cannabis production, sale and distribution enterprises across Ontario.

The PJFCET is responsible for enforcing the cannabis laws and investigating criminal enterprises that exploit or abuse the legal cannabis market and consists of members from: OPP, Kingston Police Service, Hamilton Police Service, Barrie Police Service, Waterloo Regional Police Service, Sarnia Police Service, Windsor Police Service, London Police Service, and Niagara Regional Police Service.