Legal cannabis is set to usher in a wave of high-value, age-restricted parcels in the mail system, and delivery companies say they're ready.

The test of the system will come as Ontario relies entirely on the postal system for deliveries when pot is legalized on Wednesday while other provinces expect to see a fair portion of sales from online.

All provinces will require strict age verification of deliveries, but a combination of existing practices and new systems will help Purolator with the challenge, said Ramsey Mansour, vice-president of corporate strategy and marketing at the company.

"We have set up the appropriate technologies, training, and processes in place to be able to address this growing market. So we feel that we're adequately prepared."

Millions of dollars worth of marijuana plants sat under lamps brighter than the noonday sun as employees of Canada’s largest cannabis business bustled about the 47 giant growing rooms of its factory, which once made Hershey bars.

Now it’s home to Tweed, whose parent company, Canopy Growth, was the first Canadian marijuana grower to debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

Valued at more than $10 billion, Canopy is worth even more than Bombardier, the Canadian manufacturer that is one of the world’s largest makers of planes and trains, offering a stark example of this nation’s new get-rich-quick hope — the marijuana industry.

The second week of October was a dreadful one. News of sharp declines in the main U.S. stock market benchmarks reverberated across global exchanges. In Canada, the TSX mirrored the triple-digit drops of the Dow Jones, falling 336.65 points (-2.12%) on Wednesday followed by 200.27 points (-1.29%) on Thursday.

Coincidentally, the TSX ended the week in the same way the blue-chip Dow did. It rebounded and advanced 97.16 points (+0.63%) to close at 15,414.29. With the unsettling events, would investor enthusiasm on cannabis stocks be dampened when recreational marijuana becomes officially legal on October 17?

As sales numbers start rolling in, cannabis companies will need to generate significant cash flows that are necessary to sustain their current stretched valuations.

Due to a surplus of licensed producers in Canada, it is possible the country may be flooded with supply of cannabis products a few years down the road.

This may drive down margins as companies lower prices in order to stay competitive.

The Canadian marijuana stocks we’ve weeded out today may be targeted for acquisitions as the larger players seek to broaden their brand portfolios.

If you’re looking to invest in cannabis, finding a stock with a lot of upside is going to be a challenge. On the TSX, stocks like Aurora Cannabis Inc (TSX:ACB) and Canopy Growth Corp offer a lot of growth potential, but they trade at very big multiples relative to their sales and might just be too expensive.

B.C.'s lucrative, underground marijuana business may soon go bust, starting Wednesday when recreational marijuana becomes legal in Canada.

A new, legal industry has been preparing for months to serve the marketplace and that will hurt — or perhaps destroy — the province's multi-billion dollar illegal pot trade that has flourished for decades.

In its heyday, B.C. bud is believed to have brought billions into the British Columbia economy. Those days are long gone as growers in the black market adjust to an end to prohibition. CBC spoke to two illegal growers facing an uncertain future just as their cash crop becomes legal and agreed not to use their full names. 

Trevor Fencott looks at the bare wooden beams in a stripped-down Edmonton retail store and sees nothing but possibility. He muses about cooking classes, perhaps lectures and community events in the barren space.

It's late June and Fencott has high hopes for this faded brick storefront on Whyte Avenue. He wants to turn it into the neighbourhood's oasis of weed.

Fencott is CEO of Fire and Flower, an aggressive entrant in the retail cannabis industry. His ambition is to shape the early pot-purchasing experience for Canadians and build a dominant brand, which can be expanded internationally as cannabis laws evolve throughout Europe and South America.

But the last part of that dream, the international expansion, will all depend on "getting Canada right," he says.

How'd we get here?

Two words: Justin Trudeau. Three years ago, in the federal election, he promised to legalize recreational pot use. After the Liberals won, the new government immediately set about to fufill that pledge.

Earlier in the day, at a media briefing across from Parliament Hill, bureaucrats from seven federal departments patiently answered questions about the thousands of rules and regulations that will govern the sale of cannabis.

And at a scrappy end of Merivale Road, an engaging young man in red running shoes sat in the waiting room of an illegal marijuana dispensary, chatting about the stigma that still surrounds the evil weed.

As the arrival of legal cannabis looms, school boards across Ontario are grappling with how to discuss the drug with underage students barred from consuming it while ensuring rules and policies reflect the province's new legal and social reality.

Like alcohol, recreational cannabis will be off-limits to those under 19 and banned from school property when it becomes legal on Wednesday, and school boards say they are working to update their codes of conduct and disciplinary processes to reflect the details of provincial law.

Many boards say they are also training staff to deal with questions and issues surrounding cannabis both in and out of the classroom as they await further direction from the government.