When it comes to cannabis and health, buzzwords abound: CBD and THC are chief among them, as well as the endocannabinoid system, which is the body's network of receptors that these cannabis compounds unlock.

Gaetano Morello, head of a Vancouver-based supplements company, is somewhat averse to that last one. He prefers to call it the body's "wellness system."

That's partly because of the unrelenting promotion that surrounds CBD these days, as myriad products in the legal and illegal market tout CBD-infused lotions, sprays, oils and lozenges that purport healing properties by unlocking the endocannabinoid system.

Cannabis stocks are hot again. After a dismal performance in the latter part of 2018 for most cannabis stocks, the pendulum swung in the opposite direction during the first half of this year.

The big Canadian cannabis producers haven't been the biggest winners, though. Which cannabis stocks delivered the most impressive year-to-date gains? Here are the five best cannabis stocks of 2019 so far -- and which ones appear likely to keep the momentum going.

The marijuana industry is evolving before our eyes. What had once been a taboo industry that was dominated by the black market and dried cannabis flower will soon be no more.

Following the recreational legalization of cannabis in Canada last October, and the ongoing push to give the green light to medical and recreational weed at the state level, acceptance of marijuana into legal channels is growing.

The people behind a new Victoria restaurant hope to eventually serve food and drink containing cannabis. 

Trees: Island Grown is a new downtown eatery opened by Trees Cannabis Company, one of several dispensaries in Victoria that continues to operate while it waits for official licensing from the province. 

Alex Robb, CEO of Trees, says the restaurant does not serve anything containing cannabis extracts right now, but eventually it would like to include those options on the menu. 

"We don't want to push the bounds on this one," Robb said. "We've come a long way since 2015, prior to cannabis being legalized, when we were activists that were making sure that people had access to cannabis for medical purposes.

"Now the world is moving in this direction." 

Marijuana stocks have undergone a striking change so far in 2019. In the first quarter, it was game on for investors, with 14 cannabis stocks gaining more than 70%, and the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF galloping forward by about 50%. The prospect of rapid sales growth and the impending launch of derivative pot products in Canada (e.g., edibles, infused beverages, vapes, topicals, and concentrates) sent anything cannabis related soaring.

It must surely be occurring to marijuana investors en masse that the projected demand estimated by Statistics Canada pre-legalization may now seem a little optimistic.

The next big thing will likely be ancillary products, such as vaping products, cannabis-infused drinks, and edibles.

However, there’s a chance that this market will take even longer to settle into profitability, let alone predictability.

Ontario will issue 50 new cannabis retail licences this year, a move aimed at expanding legal pot sales in the country's largest marijuana market while helping to stamp out the illicit industry, the provincial government announced Wednesday. 

The province plans to issue 42 new licences for private-sector retailers who successfully pre-qualify to be part of a new lottery system later this month. The remaining eight licences will be allocated for outlets in First Nations communities. 

Thus far, 2019 has been a tale of two halves for the marijuana industry. In the first quarter, cannabis stocks were practically unstoppable, with the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF, a basket of more than four dozen pot stocks of various weightings, rising by roughly 50% and 14 well-known weed stocks surging by no less than 70% in a three-month span.

The share price of Canopy Growth Corp. plunged by just under five per cent in early morning trading as investors absorbed the news that Bruce Linton, the company’s co-chief executive officer was abruptly ousted from the company.

Linton, an early pioneer in the Canadian cannabis industry who went on to build the biggest cannabis company in the world by market value, was removed as co-chief executive officer and board member of Canopy Growth Corp. effective immediately, according to a press release put out by the company early Wednesday morning.

In an interview with CNBC, Linton confirmed that he had been “terminated”.

The United Nations' latest world drug report shows more Canadians started using cannabis each year in the lead-up to the drug's legalization for recreational use.

The report says there was a 40 per cent increase in usage of the drug between 2013 and 2017, which it attributes to a decrease in the perception of risk around cannabis use and the national debate around legalization.

It says the increase in Canada during this time was more pronounced in adults aged 20 or older, while it declined among young people aged 19 or younger.