It’s been five and a half months since Canada legalized recreational weed and, up until a recent trip to Alberta, I hadn’t been able to buy any in person. As a born and bred Vancouverite who now calls Toronto home, there's something that feels ironic about that.

When the federal government introduced the Cannabis Act in April 2017, it left retail rollouts up to the individual provinces and territories. For the most part, (with the notable exception of Quebec), the provinces have mirrored cannabis sales after their liquor retail models.

Pharmacy franchise system Shoppers Drug Mart has joined forces with Harvest One to provide Canadians with medical cannabis.

Under the terms of the agreement, Satipharm-branded products will be available for purchase through the franchisor’s website, as Canadian regulations restrict the sale of medical cannabis in retail pharmacies. The products will be packaged with colour-coded labels, indicating varying levels of strength.

Soon after announcing the partnership, Harvest One completed its first shipment to the pharmacy through its wholly-owned subsidiary United Greeneries.

The future of the marijuana industry is not set to go up in smoke. The future, in fact, looks to be smoke-free.

At least, that’s the view of Quebec-based licensed producer HEXO, which is focused on keeping cannabis users close and non-cannabis users even closer. “That’s why we are focused on cannabis experience that’s beyond smoking,” confirms Pierre Killeen, strategic business development manager at HEXO Corp.

The cannabis marketplace has become one of the fastest growing global industries, as the rapid expansion of the cannabis market is largely due to the ongoing legalization efforts in many countries. The medical cannabis sector currently accounts for a majority of the market value due to the legal hindrances imposed on recreational cannabis. Medical cannabis, on the other hand, is generally more accepted among virtually every country and now, many governments are adopting medical cannabis legislation in order to use cannabis as an alternative to traditional medication. Furthermore, research and studies recently conducted have also linked cannabis to providing consumers with therapeutic effects which relieve a wide range of medical symptoms.

Canada may have been the first country in the world to legalize medical marijuana back in 2001, but its provinces are still grappling with what that means in the workers compensation world.

The provinces that have implemented or are planning to adopt policies governing the use of medical marijuana as a pain treatment option have moved slowly out of concern about potential adverse health impacts or questions about its effectiveness, and have limited the circumstances in which it can be prescribed, experts say.

WorkSafeNB, which oversees New Brunswick’s workers comp system, led the way by issuing its marijuana policy in April 2018, which allows for the use of medical marijuana for work-related injuries in limited instances.

The hemp/CBD phenomena grows. Investors appear to be catching on. Our universe of publicly traded CBD "pure-plays" suggests the two "best-of-breed."

Calgary is looking to extend its normal deadlines for more than 100 cannabis stores that have been approved by city planners but have yet to open due to a shortage of legal marijuana in Alberta.

Normally, once a store's permit is approved, it has one year to actually open. The policy is meant to ensure storefronts are not left vacant for too long.

But city staff are recommending an exception in the case of cannabis stores due to circumstances outside the would-be weed sellers' control.

That's because the stores also require a licence from Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC), but the provincial regulator suspended its application process in November due to a product shortage.

Canadian marijuana stocks, in general, delivered sizzling performances in the first quarter of this year. Many stocks generated greater returns in the quarter than they did in all of 2018.

Among the biggest players in the cannabis industry, there was one clear winner. Aurora Cannabis(NYSE:ACB) handily outperformed both Canopy Growth (NYSE:CGC) and Tilray (NASDAQ:TLRY). Why did Aurora's gains beat its top rivals? There were three primary reasons.

The Richmond Row business, owned by Ranjit Basra, had been waiting for its retail store authorization, which has now been issued, according to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, the province’s pot regulator.

Located at 691 Richmond St., the business sits beside a now-vacant space that was home to the London Relief Centre, an illegal pot shop that served anyone older than 19, until it closed in December following repeated police raids.

There is a wide gap between what Canadians fear might be the impact of cannabis legalization on the value of their homes and what other jurisdictions have experienced.

Most Canadians believe legalization will hurt property values, according to an October 2018 survey by real estate company Zoocasa. The poll found that 42 per cent of respondents believed a dispensary located nearby would reduce their home’s value, compared with 36 per cent who disagreed. An even larger proportion (48 per cent) indicated that a dispensary nearby would reduce their desire to buy a home in that area.