Even though this year's farm bill has been delayed, everyone is closely monitoring events lately as hemp and hemp-derived CBD is likely to become federally legal in the U.S. as early as next week. The CBD market, already generating annual revenues in the millions, is poised for another massive boost with the impending passing of the 2018 Farm Bill as investors expressed optimism. Effectively legalizing CBD, the market is projected to explode as obstacles are lessened or completely nixed, allowing companies to maximize their earnings potential with respect to CBD-based products. The Brightfield Group estimates the CBD market will be 40 times its current size in just four years.

Aphria (TSX:APHA)(NYSE:APHA) is up 60% in the past week, and investors who missed the bottom of the recent sell-off in one of Canada’s top marijuana stocks are wondering if more gains could be on the way.

Let’s take a look at the current situation to see if Aphria deserves to be on your buy list right now.

 If you thought that marijuana stocks were done for the year, you may be finding yourself at a loss for words after the latest industry moves. Not only has the Farm Bill and New York state legalization taken a place on the "breaking marijuana stock news" list this week, so has interest from new investment firms.

Marijuana producer Aphria Inc. (APHA.TO 5.12%) has signed a letter of intent to supply a company in Paraguay with medical cannabis.

Under the agreement, Aphria will supply Insumos Medicos S.A., a pharmaceutical manufacturing, import and distribution company.

Aphria says Insumos will undertake the registration of the Canadian company's products in Paraguay and the appropriate licensing for the import of medical cannabis.

Paraguay will become the Ontario company's third market in Latin America, following Argentina and Colombia.

Aphria has been under pressure in recent days after short-sellers alleged the company bought assets in Colombia, Argentina and Jamaica at "vastly inflated prices."

There is no doubt that the marijuana stock market has been quite volatile for around a year now, but as the infancy of the industry begins to wear off, what can investors expect from this quickly shifting market?

2018 was an incredible year for cannabis as Canada legalized the use of recreational marijuana, and many states in the U.S. decided to legalize its use domestically. Of course there are still issues at the federal level when it comes to the U.S. industry on marijuana, but things do look to be panning out.

The Canadian cannabis producer Canopy Growth expects to enter the US market by the end of 2019, according to analysts at Cowen.

Speaking at a New York City-based Contractors Association Lunch on Tuesday, Canopy CEO Bruce Linton said he expects his company to have an active presence in the US cannabis market by late 2019, Cowen says.

One of the many wounds veterans can carry home with them from conflict is the toll stress and trauma takes on the human mind. While there are many medical uses for cannabis, one area in which it has been finding significant success is the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“I was using [cannabis] for night terrors and night sweats,” Kevin Dunne, a non-commissioned officer in the Canadian Army. “I was dealing with for the last six years after coming back from Afghanistan, and then in six months I found that my dreams are different, my night sweats had stopped.

Dunne retired from the Canadian Forces in 2012 after 22 years in the service. He was taking nine different medications a day to treat his PTSD. When he slept, he was plagued with night terrors.

If everything goes according to plan, Brian Bain will convert his Saskatoon market garden to a marijuana nursery by next year. 

He said it's a matter of economics.

"All of a sudden, you have a crop that comes along, that you can pay your employees better, you can pay yourself better and the business itself will do better," he told CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning. "It's really hard not to make that switch."

Right now, Bain grows herbs like mint, chives, dill and basil and sells them to grocery stores across western Canada. He plans to convert his hydroponic garden to a nursery that will sell live pot plants to licensed stores. 

Bain said margins in the produce business are tight and it can be difficult to make money.

For two GTA municipalities, the idea of legalizing cannabis has gone up in smoke.

On Wednesday, both Markham and Mississauga city councils voted down the option of allowing cannabis retail stores to operate in their cities ahead of the province’s plan to introduce private retail stores for pot by April 2019.

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said council felt there are still too many unknowns about the retail cannabis model and what it will mean for the city.

Council shot down the proposal 10-2.

“The province has not given municipalities any control over where cannabis stores can be located in our city. This is cause for great concern,” she wrote in a statement.

More research is needed to determine whether giving sick pets pot helps or hurts them, according to a Nova Scotia veterinarian who has seen an increase in the number of animals brought to his practice after consuming the drug.

Right now, it's illegal for a vet to prescribe cannabis products, although there's research underway that could change that. Canopy Growth Corp. has been given the green light by Health Canada to research the affect a compound in cannabis called CBD has on treating anxious animals.

While the THC in marijuana can get people high, CBD doesn't have the same psychoactive properties and is often consumed in oil form.