The OPP have intercepted a shipment of contraband bound for a federal prison in Kingston via drone.

On Tuesday around 4 a.m., members of the Penitentiary Squad, Kingston Police Service and Correctional Service of Canada responded to suspicious activity near Collins Bay Institution.

The officers located a drone and arrested two individuals nearby.

Officials also recovered a package within the institution walls.

Contraband seized on March 24, 2020 at Collins Bay Institution.

Along with the drone, investigators seized cannabis, cellphones, weapons and tobacco.

Businesses of many different stripes are shutting their doors this week in line with some provinces declaring states of emergency amid the COVID-19 spread, but not all.

In the wake of the Ontario government declaring cannabis an essential service, Windsor’s first legal cannabis shop is gearing up to open for business, possibly as soon as this Friday.

David Craig, chief design officer for J. Supply Holdings, told CBC News that the store is “still on track to open this week,” but that the company has made “some new adaptations” to mitigate risk and ensure the health and safety of staff and clients alike.

Approximately 4,000 times these past two weeks, I’ve thanked my lucky stars cannabis was legalized before the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe and sent us all cowering in our bong dens.

More than three-dozen Ontario government employees working in the cannabis space were named on the province's annual Sunshine List, which tracks public-sector staffers that make more than $100,000 a year. 

The majority of those listed represent The Ontario Cannabis Store, accounting for 36 of the 39 people associated with the cannabis sector on the list, which was released late Friday.

As the world goes into lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Reddit user AurantiumAmara is spreading something other than bad news and coronavirus: Edibles. 

The Ottawa-based individual, who wishes to remain anonymous, grew three plants last year. The yields were low, they say, “probably a side effect of growing organically and not investing in very strong lights.” But from the off-cut of small buds and sugar leaves, they made a couple of batches of cannabutter. 

“I have more cannabis and cannabutter than I can personally consume, so I’ve been giving away edibles and bud to friends, but also to people who help me out. Now that I have edibles made, I’d rather they be enjoyed than get stale on my counter,” they told The GrowthOp. 

Licensed cannabis stores will remain open in Ontario during a provincial emergency shutdown of non-essential businesses designed to limit the spread of COVID-19, according to two sources directly familiar with the matter. 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Monday that all non-essential businesses in the province will be required to shut down effective Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. for a period of at least 14 days. A list of businesses that will remain open will be released Tuesday, the government said in a release. 

Both sources, who declined to be named since the decision hasn't been made official, confirmed that cannabis retailers made the cut and will be deemed essential when the province releases its list of businesses that can remain open during the 14-day shutdown. 

As retail stores around Northern Ontario close down temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a local pot shop is celebrating its "soft" opening Friday.

Tokyo Smoke North Bay on Lakeshore Drive is open to the public selling recreational cannabis products including regulated and tested flowers, edibles, oils, and other cannabis related products.

The cannabis retail store lottery draw was held back in august.

Owner Lorne Fine says the purpose of these stores is to keep providing pot to the public from officially licensed stores.

"As we all know cannabis has been legalized," said Fine.

Canadian cannabis shoppers will have to get used to a patchwork of closed stores and delivery disruptions as pot distributors across the country implement changes.

The moves have been sparked by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19, which has pushed increasing numbers of Canadians to self-isolate and caused surges in demand for cannabis

Cannabis retailers in several provinces have advised customers that Canada Post will no longer be delivering parcels that require a signature or proof-of-age to customer doors because of disruptions to air travel and operations at their local facilities.

Shoppers must now look for a notice card notifying them of a nearby post office where they can show identification at and collect their orders.

Cannabis users looking to get marijuana at Barrie's only legal dispensary will have to wait a bit longer.

After days of long lines, people flocking to 'One Plant' showed up today to a closed sign on the door.

It read: "We have temporarily shut down due to current circumstances regarding Covid-19. Thank you for your understanding."

Early Friday evening, management at One Plant told CTV News the store was temporarily closed in an abundance of caution after a staff member told them that they had been in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

"This decision was taken by One Plant leadership as a precautionary measure due to the rapidly evolving novel Coronavirus (Covid-19)," wrote Manager Ryan Grenville.

Canopy Growth Corp. is temporarily shutting down its corporate-owned cannabis stores across the country Tuesday due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the company said in a statement. 

Canopy, which owns 23 legal cannabis stores in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador, will close its stores for an undetermined period of time at 5 p.m. local.  It is also closing its visitors centre located at its headquarters in Smiths Falls, Ont. 

“We have a responsibility to our employees, their families, and our communities to do our part to ‘flatten the curve’ by limiting social interactions. For us, that means shifting our focus from retail to e-commerce," said David Klein, chief executive officer of Canopy Growth, in a statement.