At the Commodore Ballroom on Saturday, August 4

Recreational cannabis industry marketing budgets are getting larger and more adventurous. In a buzz-building “for the fans” move, Canadian medicinal cannabis company Aurora blasted social media with a free Queens of the Stone Age gig in Vancouver as part of the Aurora Illumination Series. Those lucky enough to receive a free e-ticket witnessed QOTSA at the Commodore Ballroom, an intimate venue compared with the grandiosity of the band’s recent arena tours.

Canadians are using self-directed RRSP accounts to hold stocks of companies they hope will help them build a nice nest egg for the golden years.

Let’s take a look at Canopy Growth (TSX:WEED)(NYSE:CGC) and Suncor (TSX:SU)(NYSE:SU) to see if one is more attractive right now.

Investors have compiled a laundry list of reasons to be cautious about cryptocurrency from its volatility to its lack of regulation. A stigma that crypto is the currency of criminals has lingered.

A new study from the US Drug Enforcement Agency may shift some perspectives.

Illegal activity was once behind 90% of crypto transactions, but that number has shrunk to around 10%, according to a Bloomberg report.

So, who’s behind the majority of cryptocurrency transactions? Bitcoin speculators.

Nailing down just how much cultivation and production space Canada’s cannabis industry is going to need is like trying to hit a moving target.

At the latest check, there were 113 licenses for marijuana cultivation operations in the country, according to Health Canada. Sixty-one of those licenses are in Ontario, 24 in B.C. and the rest are spread throughout the other provinces.

But that could be just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak; more than 500 additional marijuana cultivation license applications are under review by the Canadian government as the Oct. 17 dates looms for legalization.

It’s an age-old pairing that’s sparked a subgenre of films, shows and standup acts: cannabis and comedy.

“You just have to watch a Cheech and Chong movie to know that cannabis makes you susceptible to laughter,” says Mark Breslin, founder of Yuk Yuk’s comedy clubs in Canada.

Yet stoned audiences are often the toughest to make laugh, say standup comics, who note that what high crowds lack in audible appreciation they make up for in friendly feedback and less heckling than drinking audiences.

“They might not laugh at you the entire show but after they’ll stop you outside and be like, ‘Dude, that was the best show,'” says comic Mike Rita, host of the Stoner Sundays comedy showcase at Vapor Central in Toronto.

On July 26, 2018, Ascent Industries Corp. ("Ascent" or the "Company") held a special meeting (the "Meeting") of its shareholders to consider the proposed amalgamation (the "Amalgamation") of the Company and Paget Minerals Corp. ("Paget"), in connection with a proposed public listing of the amalgamated company ("Amalco") on the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE") as previously announced. The Company is pleased to announce that the Amalgamation was approved by all the shareholders of Ascent at the Meeting. In addition, at a meeting of the shareholders of Paget held immediately after the Meeting of Ascent shareholders, the shareholders of Paget also overwhelmingly approved the Amalgamation, as well as the delisting of Paget from the NEX board of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Today, Fire & Flower, an independent corporate cannabis retailer shared that it has received conditional approval from the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC).

Under the conditional approval, Fire & Flower is being considered for final approval for its 37 store licenses in the province of Alberta once the remaining approvals are obtained from all orders of government.

"This a monumental achievement for our company," shared Trevor Fencott, Fire & Flower's Chief Executive Officer. "Receiving conditional approval from AGLC is a key step in Fire & Flower being among the first to market as a cannabis retail shop in Alberta. We look forward to welcoming our guests at our shops across the province in October."

Natura Naturals Inc. ("Natura") is pleased to announce that Health Canada has approved "Grow Space 2," a 34,500 square foot flowering room that has an anticipated harvest yield of 4,500 - 5,000 kilograms of medical-grade cannabis per year.

Natura expects to have its first harvest from Grow Space 2 in approximately 70 days, adding to the existing yield of its Leamington-based facility. 

President and CEO of Natura, Ben Nikolaevsky, said that the Health Canada approval demonstrates Natura's industry-leading experience, and builds on their production momentum.

For horticulture, propagation using tissue culture is nothing new. In fact, the technique has been used in crops like lettuce, hops, mint, potato stock, orchids, ornamental plants and berries.

“Tissue culture is the basis for just about every other big ag company,” says Dr. Jon Vaught, CEO and co-founder of Front Range Biosciences (FRB), an agricultural biotech company based in Lafayette, Colorado that specializes in tissue culture propagation of high value crops such as cannabis through its Clean Stock program. 

From a $1 billion projection to $2 billion in sales revenue by the year 2020, now is surely the best time to start thinking about putting your money where the cannabis plant grows.