If you're hoping to buy a next-generation cannabis product — like infused beer or gummy bears — as a gift for the holiday season, you may be out of luck.

It will be legal to buy derivative cannabis products — often referred to in the industry as "cannabis 2.0" — on Tuesday, but three of Canada's largest provinces won't have a single one available until January.

That's because the long-awaited expansion of sales for cannabis derivatives have gone through a gauntlet of regulatory checkpoints and cumbersome logistics, dashing hopes of last-minute gift purchases with its late arrival.

The Canadian provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador said on Wednesday they would not allow the sale of cannabis vapes, just weeks before the start of marijuana derivatives sales, as concerns linger about a possible connection between the vaping products and severe lung disease

“We will not be selling vaping products on January 1,” Fabrice Giguère, a spokesman for the Société québécoise du cannabis, which is responsible for marijuana sales in the province, said by email, adding the province had not officially announced its stance.

All of Quebec’s legal cannabis stores are run by the provincial government, while Newfoundland and Labrador’s stores are private.

Montreal teenagers are drinking less and using drugs less frequently than they used to.

And they’re consuming less than their counterparts in the rest of Quebec.

New statistics comparing usage among high school students in 2016-2017 to five years previously show that 41 per cent of Montreal students reported consuming a complete drink (such as a full beer or whole glass of wine) in the previous 12 months, compared to 47 per cent of high school students in the earlier study.

Binge drinking was also down. Among those who reported drinking in the previous year, the percentage who drank heavily in one sitting — four drinks or more for girls, five for boys — dropped to 54 per cent, down from 62 per cent in 2010-2011.

Cannabis edibles are legal in Quebec starting Dec. 5, but people won’t be able to get their hands on them until Jan 1.

The delay will come despite no penalties from the province’s pot regulator, Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC), if anyone does sell products starting Dec. 5.

“Edibles are not a race,” SQDC spokesperson Fabrice Giguère told the Montreal Gazette.

Edible cannabis products will be legal in Quebec as of Dec. 5, but people will have to wait until Jan. 1 to get access to them.

Quebec announced its regulations surrounding edibles and extracts on Wednesday. While there’s no legal impediment to the Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) selling those products starting Dec. 5, the provincial cannabis retailer wants to take its time and make sure everything is done properly.

Quebec’s provincial police took part in a raid covering 15 locations in and around Montreal yesterday to investigate the sale of illicit cannabis online, but came up empty in terms of arrests.

The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) took to the Greater Montreal Area, with one search taking place off-island on the South Shore, as part of the investigation. Multiple kilograms of illicit cannabis, packaged for retail sale, were seized.

The co-founder of global circus company Cirque du Soleil has been detained for growing cannabis on his private island in the South Pacific.

Billionaire Guy Laliberté turned himself in to police in French Polynesia.

The Canadian entrepreneur is due to appear in court on Wednesday.

In a statement, Mr Laliberté's company Lune Rouge denied he was growing the plant on his private island of Nukutepipi for commercial gain.

It said that he used cannabis for "medical" and "strictly personal" purposes

"Guy Laliberté completely dissociates himself from any rumour implicating him... in the sale or traffic of drugs," it said.

For many people, drinking and drug use go together. And contrary to popular belief, that might be a good thing.

Researchers at the National Institute of Scientific Research at Canada’s University of Quebec have produced some interesting figures on the number of cannabis users who are affected by alcohol-related diseases such as hepatitis, cirrhosis, and even liver cancer.

Heavy drinkers who never touched cannabis had a 90% chance of developing liver problems later in life.

But heavy drinkers who were also moderate cannabis smokers, the study found, only had about an 8% chance.

Even more dramatically, for heavy drinkers who were also big-time pot smokers the likelihood of liver trouble went down to about 1.4%.