A former trustee who used prescription medications, including cannabis, during school board meetings has made a complaint about the division asking for his personal health information after his disclosure.

In a report issued this month, the Sask. Information and Privacy Commissioner said he didn't find there was a breach of privacy, but recommended Prairie Spirit School Division clarify its policies around issues like medical cannabis use.

The division, which has its main office based in Warman, Sask., put a medical marijuana policy into effect last November for its employees.

A chain of marijuana shops across Saskatchewan has been purchased by one of Canada's largest pot companies.

On Thursday, Fire & Flower announced it is buying Prairie Sky Cannabis — owner of the Jimmy's Cannabis Shop chain of retail stores — for $13 million. The deal includes the company's four locations in Battleford, Estevan, Martensville and Moosomin.

"We're excited to make this move in Saskatchewan," said Nathan Mison, vice-president of government and stakeholder relations for Fire & Flower.

"We look forward to opportunities to continue to make moves to show the government our commitment to the province."

Like many marijuana entrepreneurs across the province, John Thomas's biggest concern when he opened his first store was supply.

Thomas is the co-founder of Jimmy's Cannabis Shop, which has locations in Battleford, Estevan and Martensville with another opening in Moosomin this Saturday. He said the stores initially struggled to get enough marijuana to reliably operate.

He was forced to close the Martensville location just days after opening due to running out of product.

Now, six months after legalization, supply is becoming much less of an issue. Thomas said the province's laissez-faire approach to the supply issue is part of the reason.

One aspect of the provincial budget is always the projected revenue from taxes and this year one of those is the tax from legal cannabis sales.

But the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees Union says the revenue projection seems low.

“We think the government has grossly missed the mark when it comes to the sale of marijuana in this province,” President of SGEU Bob Bymoen told CTV News following the budget’s release Wednesday.

The provincial budget shows roughly $5 million as the projected revenue this year from legal cannabis sales.

“The $5 million isn’t going to be enough to even offset the training and education, enforcement and dealing with the societal issues that stem from making marijuana legal,” Bymoen said.

The Government of Saskatchewan is banking on pot sales to make a small contribution to this year's bottom line.

The 2019-20 budget estimates the province will make $5 million this year, the first full year of legalization.

The province expects PST on pot sales will bring in $2 million while federal excise tax is expected to account for $3 million.

For the province to generate $2 million in PST, total pot sales would need to equal $33.3 million. in the first three months of legalization, Saskatchewan trailed the rest of the country in sales, bringing in only $2.5 million.

Like many jurisdictions, Saskatchewan marijuana sales were hindered by supply problems in the first months of legalization, with many stores closed due to lack of product. 

For National Poison Prevention Week, March 17-23, the Saskatchewan Prevention Institute is cautioning parents to be aware of what their little ones could get into — including their marijuana.

Marijuana has the potential to be dangerous to children if ingested because of their size and weight. Marijuana-laced edibles pose a risk because they can look and taste like their unlaced counterparts. Children could eat a large amount quickly and become ill as a result.  

“The danger with (edibles) is that we don’t know how much THC is in them,” said Dr. Simon Kapaj, a medical health officer with the Saskatchewan Health Authority. “That can be a … concern because children are more sensitive to this harmful substance.”

The young man says he was running down the alley behind Second Avenue South with a jar of marijuana in each hand, sure the police were hot on his heels, when he decided to rethink his career choice.

He worked at the Saskatoon Cannabis Clinic, an illegal dispensary with no city business licence, no licence from the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority to sell cannabis recreationally, and no recognition from Health Canada as a legitimate medical cannabis supplier.

The business had already been raided three times in the past three months, reopening each time in defiance of police and government.

I essentially feel like a little small-time drug dealer. It's not what I am, it's not who I want to be."- Former Saskatoon Cannabis Clinic employee

Pre-October, with the country moving toward cannabis legalization, police and lawyers geared up for what was expected to be a rash of impaired driving offences related to the drug.

Instead — in Regina, at least — crickets.

“I don’t have numbers, but I’ll use the word ‘low,’ ” Regina Police Service Chief Evan Bray said recently at a Board of Police Commissioners meeting when questioned by reporters on the issue. “We have not laid a lot of (cannabis-related) impaired driving charges. In fact, I don’t think we’ve laid any impaired driving charges as a result of cannabis.”

City police spokesman Les Parker confirmed it, stating the current numbers for cannabis-related impaired driving are “zero, unless other charges are mislabeled.”

In the first months after the legalization of cannabis, sales at cannabis stores in Saskatchewan were lagging behind every other province in the country, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada.

Across Canada, $151.5 million in cannabis was sold from the date of legalization on Oct.17, 2018, to the end of December. 

Saskatchewan cannabis stores sold just under $2.5 million in product in that time, below Prince Edward Island's sales of just under $3.4 million. P.E.I.'s population is about 150,000 people, compared with Saskatchewan's population of just under 1.2 million.

In comparison, people in Saskatchewan spent $227.7 million at beer, wine and liquor stores in the months from October to December. 

Health Canada has recalled two cannabis strains which were sold in three stores in Saskatchewan.

The recalls involve the 3.5 grams of Cherry Lime and Warlock Kush cannabis strains produced by Bonify Ltd. which is based out of Manitoba.

According to the alert, 52 units of product were sold at three cannabis retailers: Cannabis Co. in Regina, Spiritleaf in Moose Jaw, and The Pot Shack in Saskatoon. The affected cannabis products were sold between November 20 and November 30.

Although the national public health organization hasn’t received any complaints yet, it said the products do not meet some of the microbial and chemical contaminant limits set by federal cannabis regulations.