No one would accuse the Pallister government of being soft on drugs. It has repeatedly lobbied its federal counterpart to push back the deadline for the upcoming legalization of marijuana. It has also found reasons to reject recommendations to establish safe-consumption sites in Winnipeg for the city’s growing number of people addicted to harder drugs, including opiates.

But like it or not — and, philosophically, the Pallister government clearly does not — cannabis will soon be legal, likely by the end of this summer or early autumn.

James E. Wagner Cultivation, a Canadian licensed cannabis producer based in Ontario with plans to go public in the very near future.

Valens GroWorks Corp. (CSE:VGW) (VGW.CN) (CNSX:VGW), a multi-licensed company, based in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, that recognizes the trend in the Canadian cannabis industry toward oils and derivatives and is uniquely positioned to capitalize on it.

Health Canada says they are illegal and both are close to residential neighbourhoods.

First it was The Kure, now it’s Indigenous Bloom.

Some wonder what’s taken so long, but it appears some local First Nations people are taking advantage of marijuana’s legal grey area by opening up shops on reserves.

And while marijuana is technically illegal to sell, and cannabis dispensaries are forbidden in the City of Chilliwack, dealing with what happens on reserve may prove to be a tricky matter.

The Kure Cannabis Dispensary quietly opened up in April on Dyke Road on the Skwah Reserve near Townsend Park. The operation is on a privately held CP (Certificate of Possession) land, according to band councillor Lara Mussell.

Canaccord Genuity, a mid-sized Canadian investment bank that's been around since 1950, is quietly dominating the emerging marijuana sector.

Since 2016, Canaccord has outpaced the competition in both advising and underwriting cannabis companies, acting as the sole or joint bookrunner on more than $1.5 billion of financings and advising on more than 50 transactions, according to the firm.

NLC will monitor licensed stores, but can challenge unlicensed shops.

Is there a shop in your neighbourhood currently selling weed?

Health Canada has not approved any storefront locations for over-the-counter medical cannabis sales in Newfoundland and Labrador. Recreational-use cannabis is not yet legal.

Multiple shops have set up with cannabis-related branding. In some cases, they promote informational services and referrals for medical marijuana users. In other cases, they have been identified by community members as dispensaries, intent on selling marijuana for recreational purposes (as opposed to specifically medical marijuana for prescriptions) prior to legalization.

Illegal activity is subject to police intervention.

If anyone believes there isn’t a healthy dose of unseemly cash-grab in the provincial government’s new cannabis legislation, then they haven’t read the proposed law.

More specifically, they haven’t read sections 72 and 69 (7) of An Act Respecting the Control and Sale of Cannabis.

That’s the section that deals with the online sale of cannabis.

In it, the province attempts to legislate the NLC (“the corporation” in the legislation) a global internet monopoly on cannabis sales.

Here are those sections.

“72. (1) A person other than the corporation shall not sell or otherwise supply cannabis online or through a website.

The last week has been quite busy for the cannabis sector as companies have announced earnings, acquisitions, and partnerships. This is an exciting time to be a cannabis investor and today, we have highlighted 7 important company announcements that investors need to be aware of.

7 Developments to be Aware of

On Monday (May 28), the Senate’s social affairs committee passed 40 amendments to the proposed federal cannabis legalization laws, including one which would solidify provincial powers to ban at-home cultivation.

In an eight-hour clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act, more than three dozen technical clarifications, definitions, and translation errors were addressed to correct flaws in the drafting. Twenty-nine of those amendments were proposed by Sen. Tory Dean (independent), the bill’s sponsor, implying the majority of changes come with the backing of the government.

Conservative efforts shut down

Marine Atlantic, like many large corporations, is preparing for and struggling to get policies in place prior to the legalization of cannabis.

There are “concerns for both crew and passengers,” says Marine Atlantic’s David Frew, vice-president of corporate strategy and human resources.

“That’s important to us given the nature of the service that we provide and where we provide it,” Frew said during Sydney Port Days recently.

The ferry service operates four vessels on two routes between North Sydney and Newfoundland. Last year, it carried 328,000 passengers and 95,000 commercial vehicles.