Ever since the day of October 17th, when cannabis sales famously began throughout the Canadian nation, Canada has been looked at as one of the instrumental countries for propagating legal cannabis. Many wondered as to whether or not a legal marijuana industry could function on such a large scale, and the nation has shown that it indeed can.

Canada’s legal weed industry has not been without trouble, however, as they have run into some issues regarding what is allowed to be sold and what isn’t. Regardless, Canada has been able to set the tone for what it means to have a G7 nation legalize adult use cannabis for all.

Marijuana (cannabis) for medical and recreational purposes is legal in Canada now.

The annual demand for the formerly evil weed is estimated to be as high as hundreds of thousands of kilograms, which, when sold, could produce billions of dollars in honest and upstanding revenue.

Under the 2018 Cannabis Act, only producers who are licensed by Health Canada are allowed to grow the product. As of October 2018, when recreational marijuana became legal in Canada, there were approximately 120 such licensed producers in the country, some large and some small.

The cannabis movement was virtually unstoppable last year. Canada legalized recreational marijuana. President Trump signed the Farm Bill into law, giving the green light to hemp and hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD) production.

And a handful of U.S. states legalized weed in some capacity. It was a banner year for the marijuana industry -- but not so much for marijuana stocks, which had an abysmal fourth quarter.

 British Columbia may be famous for its bud but some say Canada's new marijuana legalization framework is excluding the small producers with established know-how.

A movement is growing in the province to address that problem with a common idea: cannabis co-operatives.

"Some may argue we've lost our place to either Ontario or Alberta based on the number of licensed producers based out of those provinces," said Barinder Rasode, CEO and co-founder or Grow Tech Labs, a cannabis business accelerator.

"We're very focused on making sure that B.C. remains a world leader in the area."

One of the most interesting moves in the cannabis industry over the past couple of months was the investment in Cronos Group (NASDAQ: CRON) that Altria Group (NYSE: MO) decided to make. Spending $1.8 billion for a 45% stake in the marijuana company, Altria decided that Cronos was its best potential partner to take advantage of the fast-growing cannabis market.

Thinking big isn't a bad thing. And Canopy Growth (NYSE: CGC) CEO Bruce Linton is definitely thinking big.

Linton recently stated at the Cantech Investment Conference that his goal is to make Canopy's business "quite a lot larger and more successful" than its partner, Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ).

Canada’s two biggest cannabis companies report earnings this week, giving us the first glimpse -- however murky -- of what recreational sales look like.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. reports fiscal 2018 earnings Monday morning and Canopy Growth Corp. reports Thursday after the close, followed by an analyst call on Friday. These earnings won’t tell us much about what normalized legal sales will look like, as there were plenty of headwinds in the final quarter of 2018 that will undoubtedly impact results.

Weed has made it to Wall Street in a big way. Three marijuana stocks currently trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), with another recently applying to be listed. Two marijuana stocks are listed on the Nasdaq. 

When he was younger, the only thing that Enrique Morales knew about marijuana was that folks smoked it to get high.

Today, the former driver is a horticulturist on a cannabis plantation about 80 miles west of the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo, and he says drops of marijuana oil have been key to treating his mother's osteoarthritis.

"My perception has now changed. It is a plant that has a lot of properties," he said.

The company that owns the plantation, Fotmer SA, is now part of a flourishing medical cannabis industry in Uruguay.

The country got a head start on competitors in December 2013 when it became the first in the world to regulate the cannabis market from growing to purchase, a move that has attracted a wave of investment.

Many investors in high-growth stocks are wondering if they should buy the e-commerce platform provider Shopify (TSX:SHOP)(NYSE:SHOP) after a powerful rally in its shares since they hit the December low.

This question is not an easy one to answer, given the stock’s highly volatile short-term trading pattern. Shopify stock has fallen almost every time after going through a strong rally during the past one year. This boom-and-bust cycle hasn’t been good for those who are in the market for short-term gains and couldn’t time the next dip or an upside move.