With some analysts calling for a potential recession, they are predicting the cannabis industry will be one of the top industries capable of delivering a healthy return on investment. Spending on legal cannabis in the U.S. is expected to increase from $12.9 billion in 2019 to $20.4 billion in 2022, according to New Frontier Data.

The future of Canada’s cannabis industry may not be as rosy as once believed after one research firm cut their estimates for the outlook on the country’s burgeoning pot market.

Cannabis industry research firm BDS Analytics said Canada’s pot market is expected to grow to US$5.2 billion by 2024 up from US$569 million last year. While that growth reflects a relatively strong compound annual growth rate of about 44 per cent over the next five years, it also is shy of BDS’s previous January forecast of the Canadian market of US$5.9 billion by 2022.

J. London on Richmond Row, the second marijuana retail store to open in London, was designed to ensure customer experience is the top priority, says the team behind the store.

From the moment customers enter the outlet’s age-gating area – where staff ensures everyone who enters is 19 or older – the experience begins.

Customers are handed a “newspaper,” a four-page handout that includes information on how to use the store’s tablet system to browse products and make orders, basic facts on cannabis and its effects, and a detailed menu of the outlet’s many offerings.

Once inside J. London’s 185-square-metre retail area, trendy music fills the air and a projector plays a custom-designed video on a large white wall.

We have gushed frequently enough over OrganiGram Holdings Inc (OTCMKTS:OGRMF) shares to solidify our track record there. For its part, the stock has done plenty to vindicate that perspective, consistently leading the cannabis space on the upside over the past few months, powering as much as 120% higher in that time, and banging once again on new all-time highs. To further flesh out the story, the company just announced the recent appointment of strategy and operations consultant James Cavanagh as the Company’s Chief of Staff.

One of the federal government’s key stated objectives in legalizing weed has been to keep it out of the hands of children. As such, retail stores across the country are being careful about verifying customers’ ages, and in some cases scanning identification cards to validate them.

The Hunny Pot on Toronto’s Queen Street West told VICE it is scanning IDs to alleviate wait times, but that it is optional and customers are made aware that they can have their ID verified manually. Ameri, a weed shop in Yorkville, said it mostly checks IDs manually but also has a scanning gun available to “maintain compliance, catch fake IDs and lower human error.”

Canada-based Village Farms International (NASDAQ:VFF) is one of the largest and longest-operating greenhouse growers in North America, with 30 years of experience growing vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers. The company operates 240 acres, or 10.5 million square feet, of huge greenhouses, with roughly half in British Columbia and half in Texas. 

Who is NextLeaf Solutions? 

NextLeaf Solutions Ltd (CSE:OILS) is a cannabis-extraction-technology company that has a patented process for the commercial scale production of high-quality cannabinoid distillate, the precursor to every cannabis-infused products. 

The resurgence in the cannabis sector to start 2019 is largely responsible for dragging the Canadian equity market out of the December doldrums. Investors are now wondering whether pot stocks will continue to lead the way through the end of 2019 and beyond.

Lucia, a Colombian girl, suffered severe epileptic seizures since adolescence. Although she visited many doctors and specialists, at 35 years of age she had not found anything that would help her treat the debilitating symptoms of her illness.

One day she was able to travel to Canada where a specialist recommended a brand of medicinal cannabis oil that, as soon as she tried, significantly mitigated her ailments. Her spasms were less violent and her triggers less frequent.

Upon returning to her home country, however, Lucia could not locate the medicine that had benefited her so much. Although she tried many cannabidiol presentations available on her local market, none gave her the same result she had experienced in Canada.

Cannabis continues to grab headlines the world over. However, due to the lack of efficient, large-scale clinical trials, cannabis is not still not considered a registered medicine under international regulations. Cannabis is comprised of approximately 104 different cannabinoids and around 750 different chemicals such as cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Many pieces of research have linked cannabis to effectively treating certain medical conditions such as cancer, chronic pain, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis. Ultimately, researchers hope to replace traditional treatment and medication with cannabis-based products. However, due to cannabis' THC component, legalizing cannabis on an international scale poses a challenge.