Canada has a legal and regulated pot industry, but some of the best weed in the world is still grown just south of the border in the United States.

Medical marijuana company Cresco Labs signed a deal to acquire two dispensaries, one in the Lakeview neighborhood and another in Rockford, weeks after the Chicago-based company went public in Canada.

The dispensaries, MedMar Lakeview and MedMar Rockford, will be Cresco's fourth and fifth in the state, maxing out the number a company can own in Illinois. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"Not only do they become a part of Cresco Labs in Illinois, but they're also part of the fabric of the Cresco Labs company," said Charlie Bachtell, CEO and co-founder of Cresco. "We'll learn a lot from them, and they'll have a big influence on how we move forward, even with operations in other states."

Manitoba regulators have seized all cannabis products provided by a Winnipeg-based company that were shipped to licenced retail stores.

The Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba and Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation say the sale of all cannabis products produced by Bonify are suspended over quality-control issues.

Premier Brian Pallister says he believes illegal cannabis entered the legal distribution system.

He says Health Canada was notified more than a week ago, but the province was only told Tuesday, and heard from the company, not the federal government.

Pallister says it's unacceptable that his government was not notified earlier, and customers need to know that what they are buying is approved and licenced.

When marijuana was officially legalized in Canada on October 17th, 2018, an entire new legal code also came into effect. Under the Cannabis Act, landlords had 90 days to send tenants notice of a marijuana-smoking ban. Just weeks after legalization, we already noticed some frustrated Montrealers being notified of smoking-bans by their condo management. 

Many Montrealers scratched their heads and wondered, "if I own my condo, how is it possible that my building can tell me where I can and can't smoke weed?"

Today, we have identified six Canadian cannabis stocks with strong balance sheets going into 2019.

In 2019, in general, cannabis companies will need cash to expand production facilities to meet consumer demand, as well as to make strategic acquisitions to increase market share and/or to become further vertically integrated (seed to sale).

These companies also have a solid inventory position, which is another important metric for 2019.

The Canadian marijuana company Tilray announced yesterday (December 18) that it has signed an agreement to partner with Novartis subsidiary Sandoz to sell medical marijuana in countries where it is legal, currently numbering 35. This is likely the first time a major pharmaceutical company has gotten into the medical marijuana business, STAT notes.

Shopify Inc (TSX:SHOP)(NYSE:SHOP) has had a fantastic run in 2018, all things considered. Although its shares have fallen about 13% in the past week, they’re still up over 30% year-to-date. Shopify’s gains this year are particularly impressive compared to the S&P/TSX Composite Index, which is down 10%.

But with large and growing (non-adjusted) losses, why is Shopify able to outclass all other Canadian tech stocks–when some of its competitors are consistently pumping out profits?

There are three basic reasons. I’ll start with the most obvious: growth.

But how about candies called “chewables”? Or tarts, tablets and mints?

They may all be similar, but the formats and names could be key to what is acceptable to federal regulators.

What confections will be allowed is one of the biggest question marks as Canada awaits regulations from Health Canada on cannabis “edibles” and concentrated products, says Chuck Rifici, an Ottawa cannabis entrepreneur.

Rifici’s Auxly Cannabis Group, like others in the industry, is preparing to produce a range of products while waiting to see what will be allowed.

Aleafia to buy Emblem for $173M in all-stock deal

As more and more states legalize marijuana use, an increasing number of people are turning to it as a way to manage overwhelming anxiety. Marijuana is well-known to have a calming effect for many people, so it’s not surprising that it’s often used in this way.

However, there is scant research on the safety and effectiveness of cannabis for anxiety, as a recent review concluded. (Please note that I’ll be focusing on the psychoactive form of marijuana, not cannabidiol or CBD.)