Standing Senate committee on Aboriginal peoples says some called consultations inadequate.

After a Senate committee proposed postponing cannabis legalization so that Indigenous leaders could have a seat at the table, a federal agency on the file has responded —  the problem is with the current system, and putting off legalization won't fix that, it says.

"The current system is not working — Canada has some of the highest rates of youth use of cannabis, the illegal market is thriving and Canadians continue to be subject to criminal prosecution for possession of small amounts of cannabis," said Health Canada in a statement to CBC News.

INVICTUS MD STRATEGIES CORP. ("Invictus" or the "Company") (TSXV: GENE; OTC: IVITF; FRA: 8IS1) is pleased to announce that the Acreage Pharms Ltd ("Acreage Pharms") 33,000 square foot, purpose built Phase 2 production facility is complete.  Land clearing and site preparation for its 80,000 square foot Phase 3 expansion project has commenced giving the licensed producer a total of 120,000 square feet of growing space by the end of 2018. Acreage Pharms is also working on plans to increase total capacity to 360,000 square feet in 2019. Invictus is fully funded for the Phase 3 expansion.

Acreage Pharms Phase 1 & Phase 2 (CNW Group/Invictus MD Strategies)

There's another indication that marijuana legalization is going to feel like Prohibition 2.0 for some in B.C.'s thriving cannabis sector.

That's because the NDP government has revealed that seeds will be included in the list of products being monitored in the federal cannabis tracking system.

"Additionally, the Liquor Distribution Branch will maintain its own product listing system for any products, including seeds, that it acquires from licensed producers and distributes to public stores, private retail stores, or sells through the online sales system."

The revelation came in response to questions posed to the province by Deepak Anand. He's vice president of business development and government relations with a consulting firm called Cannabis Compliance Inc.

In advance of Ontario’s election on June 7, the Human Resources Professionals Association is setting out several recommendations for the province’s political parties, including more clarity around recreational marijuana rules.

In light of the drug’s impending legalization, the HRPA’s election suggestions call for setting a clear legal definition of impairment as well as the grounds under which an employer can test an employee for cannabis use. As well, the organization wants the government work with other provinces to co-ordinate the regulations in order to ensure organizations with a national workforce are able to follow policies and communicate effectively with employees.

Looking for alternative ways to play speculative sectors such as the Canadian (soon to be legalized) cannabis space is something many investors have begun to explore. Whether it’s the potential to invest in cannabis suppliers that may see their volumes grow alongside the cannabis plants they supply to distribution companies or ways of playing government spending in this space, investors will certainly look to exploit every possible avenue as more details about how this commodity will be legalized emerge. I have stated before that valuations within the cannabis production space currently make no sense to me, so…

BlissCo Cannabis Corp. (CSE: BLIS) is pleased to announce that the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Bliss Co Holdings Ltd. ("BlissCo"), has received its order of cuttings at its facility in Langley. BlissCo received the cuttings on May 2, 2018, from 7ACRES which is a Licensed Producer and wholly owned subsidiary of The Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc. (TSX.V: FIRE).

Competition among cannabis growers in Canada has reached epic proportions, with each producer apparently viewing legalization as a "green rush" of sorts, in which the producer who grows the most pot wins.

Earlier last month, Canadian cannabis firm Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB) announced its intention to build a new production facility which would increase its overall production of marijuana by 430,000 kgs per year. The facility, which the company has dubbed "Aurora Sun" is expected to encompass a 21-acre facility, with approximately 50% more capacity than its current flagship production facility codenamed "Aurora Sky situated at the Edmonton airport.

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) released a report Tuesday titled, Cannabis: Almost Showtime, which provides a very positive outlook on the pending legal cannabis industry in Canada.

However, some of the information presented in the report might make the booze industry a little wary.

The CIBC analysts predict that the Canadian cannabis industry will eclipse the alcohol industry with an expected $6.5 billion in legal rec sales by 2020. Canadians spent $5.1 billion on spirits and $7 billion on wine in 2017. Another $16 billion was spent on tobacco. 

The designs for 12 Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC) cannabis shops were released on Monday by the organization’s President and CEO, Bret Mitchell.

Eleven of the cannabis shops will be located within NSLC locations, which will undergo $500,000 renovations to accommodate the shops-within-a-shop. One vacant store in Halifax will reopen as the sole cannabis-only store in the province.

Based on the renderings, the shops are well-lit with white walls featuring a few punches of bright colours. There will be a wall of weed boxes behind the cash registers that will display the products.

“We have what I consider a modern, bright, really merchandise-intense full-service environment which we are going to roll in July,” said Mitchell.

Cannabis Compliance Inc. ("CCI"), a Toronto-based compliance consulting firm, is pleased to announce the acquisition of NHP Consulting Inc. ("NHP"), a regulatory compliance firm dedicated to servicing the health products, cosmetic, food, and medical device industries. The transaction will result in a merge of the two businesses, incorporating the staff at NHP into the larger CCI family.