City official predicts 'huge demand in Canada for that training'

Summerside, P.E.I., is hoping to get more officers trained as soon as possible to recognize drug-impaired drivers in advance of Canada's planned legalization of recreational marijuana.

Deputy chief administrative officer Gordon MacFarlane told CBC News only a handful of city officers are trained and the only available training is in Florida.

"Hopefully ... there will be something that will be able to be done through the Atlantic Police Academy because … no doubt there's going to be a huge demand in Canada for that training," he said.

Cannabis activists say although this year’s 4-20 celebrations across the country will likely be the last before recreational pot use becomes legal, there’s still a lot to fight for.

The federal government has committed to making marijuana legal by the summer, but the task of regulating the sale and consumption of the drug has been handed down to the provinces and territories.

Lisa Campbell with the Ontario Cannabis Consumer and Retail Alliance said she doesn’t think 4-20 events across the country will disappear with the new legalized system — but they will likely evolve.

A cloud of cannabis smoke will envelop Parliament Hill Friday during what will be, by all accounts, the last 420 celebration before recreational cannabis is legalized.

But there's also uncertainty hanging in the air — particularly when it comes to the question of where pot smokers will be able to light up in Ottawa. 

When the Ontario government passed its Cannabis Act, the province made it clear that smoking will not be allowed in any public places. It's even laid out the fines: $1,000 for a first offence and up to $5,000 when scofflaws are caught again. 

But in Ottawa, there's a wrinkle.

In the National Capital Region, where municipal, provincial and federal jurisdictions intersect, the regulations are more obscure.

U.S. dispensaries have strict advertising rules as they target 'canna-curious' people

Even before recreational marijuana is legal in Canada and the rules around advertising are fully developed, a licensed pot producer in Leamington, Ont. is targeting your senses with six 'cannabis experiences.'

In the days leading up to today's 4/20 pot celebrations, which will likely be the last before the planned cannabis legalization by the summer, Aphria introduced a new marijuana brand. It's called Solei Sungrown Cannabis and will be designed for the new adult-use market.

A day that's come to symbolize protesting prohibition has taken a joyful turn this year

Today is 420 — a day that cannabis activists associate with the aroma of protest and lighting up in defiance of the law, but on this last April 20 before prohibition is lifted in Canada, many say it's a day to celebrate.

"We're the first G20 country to have a legal recreational cannabis market. It's a moment for Canada to be proud of what's to come," says Josh Lyon, vice-president of marketing at Hiku Brands, which not only owns licensed cannabis producers, but the Tokyo Smoke chain of cannabis lifestyle stores.

New figures from Statistics Canada provide some of the clearest pictures of cannabis consumption in the country to date

People marking 4/20—national weed day—this year are more likely to reach for the traditional dried cannabis product than for a vape pen, according to new survey results from Statistics Canada.

Edibles were the second most common product, followed by hashish.

The results are from the first round of a new survey from the statistical agency which looks at who’s consuming cannabis, how they’re getting it, what products they’re using and how they’re behaviour might change after legalization. It provides one of the clearest pictures of cannabis consumption in the country to date.

Here’s a rundown of some of the other results:

About 100,000 tiny pot plants that took root in Ontario are headed for a massive grow-op in Delta

The smell of marijuana wafting through the airplane on the YVR airport tarmac on Thursday wasn't overpowering, but it left no doubt as to what the huge white boxes filling the plane contained.

Cannabis giant Canopy Growth shipped more than 100,000 tiny pot plants, or clones, from a nursery facility in Ontario to its new greenhouse in Delta, B.C.

While all eyes are on the launch date for recreational cannabis in Canada —said to come in either late summer or early fall— the medical side of the equation should be getting the attention, as well, because it’s about to get much bigger, says Eric Paul, CEO of licensed producer CannTrust Holdings (TSX:TRST).

The ramp up in Canada’s cannabis sector is ongoing, with industry estimates of sales eventually adding up to between $5 and $8 billion a year. That’s substantial, since by comparison, Canada produces a little under $3 billion of beer a year and about $1 billion in tobacco products. But while the rec market is getting all the focus, the medical marijuana industry both at home and abroad should be getting its props, since it’s growing by leaps and bounds.

On Friday, marijuana enthusiasts celebrate 4-20. And this year, especially, they’ve got plenty to celebrate.

We are not only on the eve of legalization, but those who market, sell and advocate for cannabis say they are tapping into a whole new market of users, too: marijuana for moms.

Former food writer Devon Scoble, who enhances her cooking with cannabis-infused oils, says it’s all part of a living a healthier lifestyle.

“I really like to use coconut oil infusions,” she says. “I find they’re very versatile. You can use them in a variety of recipes and … you can also put them on your skin.”

Others, like Hightea podcast co-host Michelle Bilodeau, say they use the product to help treat a variety of issues like depression, anxiety and aches and pains.

When marijuana legalization is enacted across Canada, it will create arguably the biggest legal cannabis economy in the world.

That change is the genesis of a conference entitled Legalizing Marijuana in Canada: Policy Challenges being held April 26 and 27, by the McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy (IHSP), at the Moot Court in the McGill Faculty of Law. Tickets are $25 for students and $100 for members of the general public.

Daniel Weinstock, the head of the IHSP and the lead organizer of the conference, says legalization raises a wide range of thorny policy issues.