The marijuana industry has been practically unstoppable in recent years, with that momentum carrying over into 2019. Through the first three months of the year, the broad-based Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF has risen by approximately 60%.

According to Wall Street investment banks, this is an industry forecast to grow at a double-digit annual pace for years to come, with some analysts pegging annual global sales at between $50 billion and $75 billion by the end of the next decade. Presumably, with growth this robust, it's going to lead to some hefty gains for investors.

Canada's recreational marijuana market and European medical cannabis markets tend to be the top subjects of discussion for executives of the biggest marijuana producers. That makes sense, with nearly all of the revenue for the big marijuana companies being generated in Canada and in Europe.

The first legal pot shop in Toronto is ready to open its doors Monday morning.

Speaking inside the four-level retail store located at 202 Queen Street West, the communications officer for The Hunny Pot Cannabis Co. told CP24 that their team is “really excited for people to see the space.”

“Our focus from the very beginning was to open on April 1 at 9 a.m. and we never wavered from that,” Cameron Brown said. “We knew that we wanted to be open to make that first sale and the fact that we are the first Toronto retailer to be open and to make that first sale in the biggest market in Canada, I can’t express how excited we are about that.”

Although the process to set up shop was very quick, Brown said their 50-person team is ready to serve.

Origin House (NASDAQOTH:ORHOF) and MariMed (NASDAQOTH:MRMD) rank as two of the hottest marijuana stocks on the market.

Over the last 12 months, both stocks have come close to tripling.

So far in 2019, Origin House has emerged as the bigger winner by far. But which of these stocks is the better pick now? Here's how Origin House and MariMed stack up against each other.

The case for Origin House

Origin House has a saying: "Win California, win the world." That's actually not a bad strategy for a marijuana business.

Shutting down the marijuana black market will require more legal cannabis and more licensed producers, according to the provincial bureaucrat who works on Manitoba's cannabis strategy.

"Breaking the black market is a key aspect of legalization," said Michael Legary, a senior project manager with Manitoba's priorities and planning secretariat.

"You have to have a legal supply available to do that. And if we do not have legal supply, people will go to the previous channels they were using," he said.

John Arbuthnot, CEO of Delta 9 Cannabis, agrees there is not enough pot to go around. Both he and Legary were panelists at a cannabis industry event Wednesday organized by the Chartered Financial Analyst Society of Winnipeg.

After emerging from nowhere, the legal cannabis market is bombarding investors with groundbreaking news on a daily basis, making it one of the most exciting sectors to invest in. How does one stand out in an increasingly crowded environment? Perhaps new players should take a cue from the products and services of these three radically different companies: Tilray (NASDAQ: TLRY), GW Pharma (NASDAQ: GWPH) and Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE: IIPR).

The shops in the ByWard Market, Centretown and Wellington West Village are among only a handful that will open across the province.

The province had wanted 25 cannabis stores to open by April 1, but many won’t be ready on time.

Ontario residents have been able to buy online at the Ontario Cannabis Store since Canada legalized recreational marijuana on Oct. 17. But bricks-and-mortar shops will bring the still-novel experience of legally purchasing weed to another level.

Expect lineups.

The proprietors of Superette on Wellington Street West have promised a staffer will monitor whether customers are blocking the entrances of neighbouring businesses or parking illegally on adjoining streets.

The “POTio” will be created in an outdoor area normally reserved for cigarette smokers at the provincially-owned Ontario Place.

The lounge is billed as a place where festival goers can “come down” from the beer and explore the world of cannabis while being educated about how to consume it responsibly.

The POTio might be a first, but organizers of other festivals and events across Ontario are grappling with how to handle the first summer of legal recreational pot.

Some events already ban smoking. But others are faced with the new reality in Ontario: people are generally allowed to smoke pot wherever tobacco smoking is allowed.

Festivals are taking different approaches.

Despite legalization revenue drivers, CannTrust Q4 results disappoint

The personal health information of about 34,000 medical marijuana patients was accessed in a data breach of an electronic medical record system used by Sunniva Inc.'s Natural Health Services Ltd. subsidiary.

NHS says patients have been informed in the last week of the breach that occurred between Dec. 4, 2018 and Jan. 7.

It says the breach didn't involve any financial, credit card or social insurance number information since those aren't collected from patients.

However, personal injury firm Diamond and Diamond -- which has announced a proposed class-action lawsuit against NHS and Sunniva -- says it did involve diagnostic results, health-care numbers and personal contact information.