Two months ago, Tilray Inc. was a little-known Canadian marijuana producer working to build its international footprint from the sleepy British Columbia town of Nanaimo.  Today, Tilray has become the king of pot. The stock has soared more than 10-fold since its initial public offering in July, dethroning Canopy Growth Corp. as the world’s largest marijuana company. It sports a market value of about $15 billion (U.S.), even after a pullback Thursday.

Canadians are projected to spend $1 billion on legal marijuana in the final three months of this year after the market opens next month.

Statistics Canada used census data to estimate that 5.4 million people will buy cannabis in the legal market that opens Oct. 17, and another 1.7 million will keep making illicit purchases.

Spending in the legal market will range between $816 million and $1.02 billion in the fourth quarter, the Ottawa-based agency said on Friday. Illegal sales will make up 24 per cent of the market with a range of $254 million to $317 million.

If this were a boxing match, Canopy Growth Corporation (NYSE: CGC) and Auxly Cannabis Group Inc. (NASDAQOTH: CBWTF) probably wouldn't be allowed to fight in the same ring. Canopy Growth would definitely be a heavyweight, with a market cap of more than $11.5 billion. Auxly Cannabis' market cap of around $540 million would almost certainly put the company in a lower weight category.

But this isn't a boxing match. And smaller stocks can often be better picks for investors than larger ones are. Which is the better marijuana stock right now? Here's how Canopy Growth and Auxly Cannabis compare.

The big day is almost here. In 24 days, on Oct. 17, Canada will lift the curtain on recreational marijuana prohibition and allow adult-use cannabis to be purchased in licensed dispensaries. When the industry is fully up to scale, it should result in billions of dollars in added annual revenue. This is why investors have driven marijuana stock valuations into nosebleed territory in recent years.

Shoppers Drug Mart has received Health Canada’s approval to be a licensed medical marijuana producer, opening the door for the pharmacy giant to dispense medical cannabis to patients.

This comes after Shoppers in October 2016 applied to Health Canada to become a licensed medical marijuana producer.

The federal government is looking to scour social-media platforms to find out what Canadians really think about pot as the country enters its new era of legalized weed.

With only a few weeks to go before the end of recreational marijuana prohibition, Ottawa is seeking an outside contractor to help the government learn more about Canadians’ attitudes and behaviours when it comes to legalized cannabis.

Federal officials want to go deeper than the data they have gleaned from public opinion surveys.

Even in the heyday of cigarettes, when people still smoked in their offices, you wouldn't expect to open a newspaper and see a reporter assigned to cover the "tobacco beat." 

And, alcohol, which is consumed by Canadians in quantities greater than ever, still only typically gets covered by wine reviewers, who suggest the best new vintages for under $20.

Why, then, are many media outlets in Canada now hiring reporters assigned to cover the cannabis beat?

"I think from a journalism perspective, this is more than just a product," said Solomon Israel, a former writer and producer with the CBC News business unit who now covers cannabis for the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper and its online publication, the Leaf News.

As Canada prepares to legalize recreational marijuana next month, the impact this will have on online drug marketplaces has remained unclear.

With less than a month until federal legislation makes recreational cannabis legal in Canada, experts say gaps in understanding about the drug and impairment remain the biggest challenge facing employers preparing for the change.

Before Oct. 17, experts say workplaces should update substance use policies to include cannabis.

Éric Courcelles, director of strategy for World Trade Center Winnipeg, said while some of the updates may seem like common sense — "don't come to work high or drunk" — the fine points of what precisely that means and setting standards to prove it are touchy.

Inside a nondescript building in a southeast Calgary industrial park, David Isaak and his small team at Boaz Pharmaceuticals spend their days cultivating a unique product — hand-crafted cannabis. 

Currently in the first phase of operation, Boaz received a licence to produce cannabis from Health Canada on June 28 — a process completed in just 10 months.

The 20,000 square foot facility now has one nursery room — where clones are created from mother plants — and two production pods — where the cloned plants are grown to produce marijuana flowers, or buds.

Plans are to ramp that up to four nurseries and 20 production pods when the company moves to the second phase of operations.