The Trudeau government has finally introduced a bill which allows Canadians to receive free no-wait pardons for previous simple possession or cannabis charges by applying through a website.

The Justice Minister Lametti estimates there are upwards of 250,000 Canadians with some form of cannabis possession convictions.

“Instead of waiting five years and paying a parole board $631, applicants will no longer have to wait a single minute and will not owe the parole board a single cent,” said Federal Justice Minister David Lametti.

Cannabis investors finally received some good news after weeks of downward pressure sent many of Canada’s top marijuana stockstowards 2019 lows.

What happened?

Aphria (TSX:APHA)(NYSE:APHA) became the first major pot producer to report a quarterly profit. The results surprise analysts and attracted a flood of money into the stock, sending the beleaguered marijuana company from $6.90 to above $9.40 per share. Short covering likely provided additional support.

Cannabis stocks got off to a blazing-hot start to begin the year. During the first quarter, the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF, the very first cannabis exchange-traded fund, gained more than 50%, with over a dozen popular pot stocks rising in excess of 70%.

However, it's been a different story since April began. Marijuana stocks have certainly lost their buzz over the past four months, with supply issues in Canada, tax problems in the U.S., and operating woes wreaking havoc on pot stocks throughout North America. Although the industry offers abundant long-term potential, it's still in the maturation phase of its evolution.

People can treat chronic pain using a number of different medications. However, doctors commonly prescribe opioids for pain that is constant.

Opioids work by attaching themselves to nerve cell receptors in various parts of the body, blocking pain signals that are traveling to the brain.

Although effective, the downside of opioids is the risk of addiction — especially when a person takes them for an extended period.

During the first quarter, cannabis stocks were practically unstoppable. The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF , the first-ever cannabis exchange-traded fund to hit the market, rose more than 50%, and 14 popular pot stocks scorched higher by more than 70%.

Most cannabis stocks took a shellacking in July. You'd run out of fingers and toes to use in counting the number of cannabis stocks that dropped by double-digit percentages last month.

But the meltdown also created what appear to be good opportunities to scoop up some cannabis stocks on the cheap in August. Three particularly compelling stocks, in my view, are Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE:IIPR), HEXO (NYSEMKT:HEXO), and OrganiGram Holdings (NASDAQ:OGI).

This is a very real and emerging field. As states decriminalize the drug, an industry is springing up.

The College Fix reports:

More schools offering marijuana studies degrees

More and more schools are developing and launching programs to study marijuana, a reflection of the psychoactive plant’s growing legal status across the country.

In recent years schools such as Northern Michigan University have offered students the chance to study the controversial plant in an academic setting. Now even the Ivy League is offering such an opportunity.

Israeli cannabis-based pharmaceutical company Nextage Cannabis Innovation Ltd. is raising up to $15 million from private Canadian entities at a company valuation of $50 million, according to one person familiar with the matter who spoke to Calcalist on condition of anonymity. The company, which is currently in the process of merging with Tel Aviv-listed Micromedic Technologies Ltd., intends to use the funding to build a manufacturing facility for its products in Israel and to continue developing its pipeline, the person said.

The company is working to raise funds as per the agreement with Micromedic, but the target sum is still undecided, Nextage founder and chair Orna Dreazen told Calcalist. The company is aiming to list in Canada or the U.S. as well, she added.

Medical Marijuana Market sheds light on critical market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, trends, and opportunities to help businesses prepare for any challenges ahead in time. It provides regional analysis of the global Medical Marijuana  Market to unveil key opportunities available in different parts of the world. The competitive landscape is broadly assessed along with company profiling of leading players operating in the global Medical Marijuana  market.

This past Wednesday, battered-down CannTrust Holdings (TSX:TRST)(NYSE:CTST) shares staged a major comeback, rallying 10% in the morning before cooling off later in the day. It’s not clear why investors are suddenly warming up to the stock, because its regulatory problems are far from over. Possibly, investors are beginning to see TRST as a bargain, as it has become the cheapest stock in the marijuana space by far.

But between the 5,000 kg hold imposed by Heath Canada and the 7,500 kg hold the company imposed on itself, CannTrust is going to have a hard time selling pot this quarter — that’s without even getting in to the possibility of fines and other penalties.