Small-town Southwestern Ontario is pushing back against Ontario’s plan to cushion the fallout of legal marijuana with money, saying the funding formula puts small centres at a big disadvantage.

The province recently announced the second instalment that municipalities will get from a $40-million fund to help cover costs stemming from the roll-out of recreational marijuana use, including police enforcement, over the next two years.

But Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley, the region’s senior civic leader, said four months into legal weed in Canada, municipalities have practically been an afterthought.

The global cannabis industry could be worth as much as US$130 billion a decade from now if a wave of legalization sweeps the U.S., Europe and Latin America, according to a report by New York-based investment bank Jefferies Group LLC, which initiated coverage of several companies in the space on Monday.

Jefferies’ projection for the global pot sector is based on the prospect that in the coming years the U.S. and all countries in Europe and Latin America will legalize cannabis for recreational and medical purposes, as well as the potential penetration of other industry sectors in those markets, such as pharmaceuticals, alcohol, health and wellness and pet care.  

If passed, Quebec’s Bill 2, An Act to tighten the regulation of cannabis, would ban cannabis use in all public places province-wide, reports CFAMM, a federal non-profit, non-partisan, patient-run organization dedicated to protecting and improving the rights of medical cannabis patients.

The cannabis retail market remains one of marijuana's biggest unknowns. Companies have been working on different approaches when it comes to developing stores or products that will appeal to consumers. It will take time before we see which strategies prove to be successful and which will fall flat. 

Here is an overview of four cannabis companies and their very different approaches for gaining market share in the retail space.

Westleaf Inc. (WL) (otcmkts:WSLFF): Set to Become of Canada's Largest Premium Cannabis Retailers

Toronto’s medical officer of health wants the federal government to ban certain cannabis edibles that would be attractive to kids, such as cannabis-infused gummy bears, candies and lollipops.

The recommendation, which was made in a report authored by Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s top doctor, was approved by Toronto’s board of health on Monday.

De Villa is calling for the government to prohibit edible cannabis products that are “particularly appealing to children due to colour or shape.”

Excited by the growth prospects, many investors may view marijuana stocks as a group -- stocks to buy, or stocks to sell, en masse. (Don't believe me? In January, 15 separate marijuana stocks marched at least 50% higher -- that can't be a coincidence.) But not so fast, warn the analysts at Jefferies & Co. Not all marijuana stocks are created equally -- nor valued equally, either. Some might be worth buying, some only worth holding, and others should be sold.

There's a little something different in the swag bags that Oscar-nominated actors will receive this year — a range of cannabis products and services from five companies, including one from a Canadian company.

The "Everyone Wins" gift bags are sent to all 25 nominees in the acting categories, and — although not officially sanctioned by the Oscars — their extravagant nature has given the bags some star status of their own.

In the first months after the legalization of cannabis, sales at cannabis stores in Saskatchewan were lagging behind every other province in the country, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada.

Across Canada, $151.5 million in cannabis was sold from the date of legalization on Oct.17, 2018, to the end of December. 

Saskatchewan cannabis stores sold just under $2.5 million in product in that time, below Prince Edward Island's sales of just under $3.4 million. P.E.I.'s population is about 150,000 people, compared with Saskatchewan's population of just under 1.2 million.

In comparison, people in Saskatchewan spent $227.7 million at beer, wine and liquor stores in the months from October to December. 

As the federal government prepares to legalize cannabis edibles next October, the City of Delta is readying its arguments on how the edible market should be regulated.

The city’s primary concern regarding cannabis edibles, city manager Sean McGill told council, is the way products that look like candies appeal to youth. The mayor’s delegation to Ottawa next week will present that concern as well as issues with how edibles are packaged when it meets with federal legislators.

“There are certainly stories of kids accessing things that look like gummy bears or some kind of treats with bright colours, and eating them and overdosing in some capacity, so that’s probably the biggest concern,” McGill said.

Although the Yukon Liquor Corporation has begun accepting applications for private cannabis retail sales, none of those licenses can be granted outside the Marwell-area until the City of Whitehorse works out where those shops can and cannot be in the downtown core.

Marwell is currently the only area in Whitehorse zoned for retail pot sales, which is where the government-run pot shop has set up. City council will be considering a bylaw which would allow private cannabis retail sales in the downtown area at the Feb. 25 regular council meeting.

If it passes first reading, a newspaper ad regarding the zoning changes will need to be published March 1 and March 8, followed by a public hearing on March 25 and a report to council April 1.