As the pot industry continues to expand, there are endless men and women working behind the scenes making things happen.

We’ve rounded up a list of 11 women making their mark in Canada.

Mimi Lam

Mimi Lam, CEO and co-founder of Superette. Lift & Co

Marijuana seizures at the U.S. border jumped in the year after Canada legalized recreational cannabis.

Figures provided by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show American officers seized 2,214 kg of marijuana from travellers entering the U.S. between Nov. 1, 2018 and Oct. 31, 2019, up from just 1,259 kg over the same period a year earlier.

That's an increase in volume of about 75 per cent.

The upswing was less significant in terms of the number of individual seizures recorded: 3,917 in the year after legalization, compared to 3,139 incidents the year before.

CPB spokesman Kris Grogan said he sees the increase as more of an "uptick" than a drastic spike.

After Canada legalized cannabis edibles, almost all cannabis companies began to focus on developing recreational products. They’re already fighting to get a head start in the edibles market. As edibles are becoming more popular among users, some experts are warning about the risks associated with consuming them.

The halls of Canada's largest cannabis expo are lined with pot-infused businesses that are about as diverse as the strains you might find at your average government-run dispensary.

On one end, exhibitors at Haven Street — a shop whose branding resembles that of a high-end perfume shop — promote their line of cannabis teas.

On the other, engineers demo a high-tech device that analyzes the quality and strain of buds by "smelling" them, and then transmits the data to an app on your smartphone. It's like Shazam for weed.

"When you consume your cannabis, you want to make sure there's no undesired components, no mould," said Adi Naali, co-founder and CEO of Quana, the company that developed the gadget.

Licensed producer (LP) Aurora Cannabis Inc.’s stock is set to drop to just $1, according to one analyst.

Michael Lavery of Piper Sandler sent a note to clients on Jan. 9, downgrading the Canadian cannabis giant to what amounts to a sell, and lowering the target price from $3 to $1.

Lavery noted weak sales in Europe and cash-related risks as substantial contributors to the note, as the company’s stock plummeted 4.3 per cent to $1.86 during Thursday’s session.

Walking through the neighbourhoods of Canada’s biggest cities, you are just as likely to hear conversations in Tamil, Punjabi or Mandarin as you are in English or French. This is not the case in many of the boardrooms of cannabis companies, which are still largely the domain of white men.

There are some notable exceptions. TerrAscend’s founder and CEO, Michael Nashat, immigrated to Canada from Egypt in the 1990s. Yet he is one of just two persons of colour currently heading up a Canadian cannabis producer. This lack of diversity is in stark contrast to Canada as a whole and may explain why so few Canadian producers have any meaningful, culturally specific marketing or outreach strategies.

Cannabis and sports haven’t quite yet found harmony in their relationship. Stigma has slowed the adoption of cannabis as a potential alternative to the opioids that many players struggle with. The NFL has particularly been anti-cannabis. But, the tides do seem to be shifting. This year, the NHL Alumni Association partnered with Canopy Growth to conduct studies on how cannabis could potentially help players with injuries and concussions.

Two years ago, Canadian cannabis companies were racing to scoop up international assets, from swaths of fertile land in southern Africa to cultivation licences in Jamaica and everything in between.

Now, with fears of a cash crunch looming over the industry, some of the same producers who spent tens of millions to build an international presence have started dialling back, putting projects on hold or divesting of their foreign operations altogether.

And it’s a trend that some pot analysts expect will only intensify over the next 12 months.

Smoke more, drink less.

That appeared to be the trend among Canadians in the first full year of legal cannabis, when beer volumes fell by three per cent through November, according to data from Beer Canada.

“This is far worse than the trends seen between 2014-2018, where beer industry volumes fell an average 0.3 per cent,” and appears to be related to Canada’s legalization of pot in late 2018, said Cowen analyst Vivien Azer.

Domestic beer volumes slid 3.9 per cent through November, while imported beer volumes grew 1.4 per cent. Cannabis consumers appear to prefer mainstream beer “as they pursue better ‘buzz for your buck,”’ Azer said in a note published Tuesday.