With the coming switch to legal sales, shops hope to keep their market niche After decades of trail-blazing cannabis-related retail - often under police scrutiny - Calgary head shops say legal recreational marijuana offers them a hazy future. Despite a perception looming legislative changes might affirm their bong-and-roach-clip business model, those first in on cannabis monetization say the coming reality leaves them in uncharted waters. It's not entirely clear what head shops' role will be in the sale of legal bud, or if coming pot dispensaries will burn their business by also selling accessories, said Fred Pattison, owner of the Next Level store. Even marijuana's mainstreaming and the expansion of e-retail poses a threat, he said. [continues 421 words]
Paraphernalia retailers wait for smoke to clear as legalization of marijuana draws near After decades of trailblazing cannabis-related retail - often under police scrutiny - Calgary head shops say legal recreational marijuana offers them a hazy future. Despite a perception looming legislative changes might affirm their bong and roach clip business model, those first in on cannabis monetization say the coming reality leaves them in uncharted waters. It's not entirely clear what head shops' role will be in the sale of legal bud, or if coming pot dispensaries will burn their business by also selling accessories, said Fred Pattison, owner of the Next Level store. [continues 387 words]
WINKLER'S mayor vows that until the smoke clears on pot legalization, his community won't vote to allow retailers to sell recreational pot. Mayor Martin Harder says his council recently decided to ignore the province's Dec. 22 deadline to vote on the issue. "Our biggest issue is the rules keep changing," Harder said on Monday. "They said you have to vote by Dec. 22 and then the next one says you can have four years to have a plebiscite. We don't want to do that. [continues 443 words]
Turns out, this bud isn't just for you. True Leaf Medicine International Ltd., a small Canadian company operating in the country's fast-emerging marijuana industry, plans to sell dog chews containing cannabis extracts. True Leaf already makes hemp-seed infused products for dogs to ease joint pain, anxiety and inflammation. It intends to raise C$10 million ($7.8 million) through an equity crowdfunding in the U.S. to build a marijuana production facility in British Columbia, eventually allowing it to extract cannabidiol -- a cannabis compound without psychoactive properties -- to treat medical conditions in both humans and animals. [continues 216 words]
The Liberal government has released its draft legislation for Bill C-45, known in shorthand as the 'Cannabis Act' for legalizing marijuana. And according to Kootenay Outdoor Producers Cooperative co-founder Todd Veri, it's better than just good news for small producers - it's everything they'd hoped for. "Our big concern was that they wouldn't allow outdoor growing or that they'd make life impossible for the co-operative model," says Veri. "Based on the report the government put together last year, we believed the government was going to go in the right direction but might need a nudge from us. It seems they took into account our documentation - we had five or six points we wanted to address and they addressed them all in the draft legislation." [continues 670 words]
Saskatchewan Government looking to privatize marijuana Saskatchewan's government is not interested in operating pot shops. Instead, they want to concentrate on regulating the product. "We do not want to be in any ownership or marketing," said Don Morgan, Saskatchewan's Justice Minister. "We want to be responsible for ensuring that there's a regulatory scheme in place and we want to make sure it's a confidently, well-run regulatory scheme, but we don't want to own it, market it or warehouse it ourselves." [continues 555 words]
A significant majority of Yukoners are behind the federal government's plan to legalize marijuana for recreational use A significant majority of Yukoners are behind the federal government's plan to legalize marijuana for recreational use and believe it's acceptable to occasionally use the drug for exactly that reason. Those findings are in the results from the Yukon government's most successful survey ever in terms of participation numbers. Nearly 3,200 responses to the introductory section of a YG public engagement survey on cannabis legalization were filed. [continues 686 words]
Vendors hope to inform and educate THOUSANDS of people streamed into Winnipeg's first-ever HempFest Cannabis Expo this weekend to listen to presentations by industry leaders and check out exhibits set up by cannabis and hemp businesses from around the country. More than 60 businesses tabled the expo, which was held Saturday and Sunday at the RBC Convention Centre. Organizers estimated that about 15 per cent of the businesses were Manitoba-based. "It's to give a platform for businesses to connect with people who are hungry for information. Maybe they're interested in medical cannabis and they don't know where to go or what to ask," event organizer Sacha Hockenhull said. [continues 752 words]
WASHINGTON - Everyday Advanced Hemp Oil, Bosom Lotion and CBD Edibles Gummie Men may have their fans, but the Food and Drug Administration is not among them. Four companies selling those and dozens of other marijuana-derived dietary supplements have been warned by the F.D.A. to stop pitching their products as cures for cancer, a common but unproven claim in the industry. "Substances that contain components of marijuana will be treated like any other products that make unproven claims to shrink cancer tumors," said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the agency's commissioner, in a news release on Wednesday. "We don't let companies market products that deliberately prey on sick people with baseless claims that their substances can shrink or cure cancer." [continues 617 words]
Help wanted: Pot inspector. The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources posted a listing on the state's career site Friday for an agricultural inspector who will specialize in a new crop in Massachusetts: cannabis. "This Inspector position will enforce the laws and regulations involving hemp and overlapping laws and regulations that impact the cultivation of marijuana," the listing says. Other duties of the job include providing "education and outreach to stakeholders relative to the enforcement of pertinent laws and regulations," and reporting and summarizing inspections, the listing says. [continues 219 words]
To the editor: Monday's editorial about PM Justin Trudeau facing an "uphill battle" in respect to pushing through cannabis legislation next summer seems to coincide with the recent discovery of a magazine I found in my doctor's waiting room. It is called "Drug Facts For Young People" and is a free publication by Regional Maple Leaf Communications Inc., of Edmonton. A copy should be placed in every politician's briefcase and every student's backpack. Here are a few excerpts: [continues 160 words]
From the head of DEA to the pimple-faced skater punk, everybody knows that you can't kill weed - you may as well try to rid the world of dandelions and rainbows. Ready or not, weed will do what weeds do - they spread. But not to worry Mr. and Mrs. Buzzkill; think of marijuana as a phase that society is going through. Like a teenager going through a rebellious stage. Just like 99.9 per cent of the people reading this, teenagers will also try things like alcohol, tobacco and fornication. [continues 512 words]
Former NHL player Riley Cote says marijuana helped him deal with the pain and anxiety that came with being an enforcer with the Philadelphia Flyers. "I used it as an ally," the Winnipeg native said Saturday at the Grow Up Cannabis Conference and Expo at Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls. "It helped me to manage my pain and inflammation. It helped me sleep and it helped with my anxiety. I was fighting guys way out of my weight class and cannabis was the ultimate tool for that anxiety." [continues 654 words]
Grow Up Expo features Jodie Emery as speaker at convention focussed on impending legalization of marijuana next July Jodie Emery laughs when reminded of her last visit to Niagara Falls seven years ago. It started with a trip to MP Rob Nicholson's office on St. Paul Avenue for a protest. It ended waiting for two members of her group to be released from the Niagara Regional Police station on Morrison Street after they were arrested. Emery and several pro-marijuana advocates were hoping to speak with Nicholson, Canada's justice minister at the time, about the extradition of her husband Marc, who was facing five years in a U.S. federal prison for selling mail-order pot seeds across the border. [continues 746 words]
The approach being taken by federal and provincial governments, when it comes to the legalization of marijuana is just another form of prohibition, says a woman who is a longtime advocate for allowing unrestricted access to cannabis. "We're seeing prohibition 2.0," said Jodie Emery, who along with her husband, Marc, have been campaigning for legalization for more than two decades. Jodie will be among the speakers taking part in the Grow Up Cannabis Conference & Expo taking place Friday and Saturday at the Scotiabank Convention Centre. "It's very upsetting." [continues 437 words]
Re. Why not legalize everything?, Letter, Sept. 23: I am a "senior" in my fifth decade who is offended deeply by this letter. Marijuana was purely and simply outlawed in the 1930s by Harry J. Anslinger merely because of corporate pressure for what scientists could manufacture in a lab to soar profits. Is the writer even aware of the many medical benefits of CBDs or the many societal uses of hemp, the non-psychoactive parts of marijuana (hint: these are the very reasons it was outlawed in the first place). [continues 190 words]
Grow Up Expo features Jodie Emery as speaker at convention focused on impending legalization of marijuana next July Jodie Emery laughs when reminded of her last visit to Niagara Falls seven years ago. It started with a trip to MP Rob Nicholson's office on St. Paul Avenue for a protest. It ended waiting for two members of her group to be released from the Niagara Regional Police station on Morrison Street after they were arrested. Emery and several pro-marijuana advocates were hoping to speak with Nicholson, Canada's justice minister at the time, about the extradition of her husband Marc, who was facing five years in a U.S. federal prison for selling mail-order pot seeds across the border. [continues 744 words]
Grow Up Expo features Jodie Emery as speaker at convention focused on impending legalization of marijuana next July Jodie Emery laughs when reminded of her last visit to Niagara Falls seven years ago. It started with a trip to MP Rob Nicholson's office on St. Paul Avenue for a protest. It ended waiting for two members of her group to be released from the Niagara Regional Police station on Morrison Street after they were arrested. Emery and several pro-marijuana advocates were hoping to speak with Nicholson, Canada's justice minister at the time, about the extradition of her husband Marc, who was facing five years in a U.S. federal prison for selling mail-order pot seeds across the border. [continues 747 words]
Organizers of the Cannabis World Congress & Business Exposition say they expect more than 2,000 people at the event Thursday and Friday at the John B. Hynes Convention Center in Boston. It's the first time this particular exposition has come to town. The organizers also held events this year in New York and Los Angeles. "We are planting our flag here," said Dan Humiston, an organizer of the show. "We anticipate the New England area is going to be the next big market for the industry. All the tea leaves say this part of the country will take off." [continues 470 words]
P.E.I. could see substantial economic impact through cannabis, says group Annie MacEachern wants to see P.E.I. become Canada's green province. MacEachern, a communications consultant, says the province has the opportunity to see a substantial economic impact through cannabis, which is expected to become a multibillion dollar industry once it's legalized across Canada next summer. However, she said the province must first approach the issue with more education. "I have a dream of Prince Edward Island becoming Canada's green Island. I really think that growing cannabis here and allowing cannabis tourism should be something that is highlighted on P.E.I.," MacEachern said during the second public discussion in Charlottetown on the upcoming legislative changes. [continues 568 words]
