Jodie Emery has returned to Vancouver after being arrested for running recreational marijuana stores in Ontario, and says she thinks the charges she's facing are politically motivated.

The self-described activist called her and her husband Marc's arrests the latest salvo in a battle between what she calls the grassroots industry and government licenced producers.

"In the future, it would be great to see cannabis normalized and easily available," said Emery on her motivation for opening a chain of recreational weed shops across the country.

"That’s why we were demonstrating what legalization should look like: storefronts where adults can walk in and access cannabis."

Quebec’s Hydropothecary Corp. became the latest medical marijuana company Tuesday to open its business to investors eager to cash in on the burgeoning marijuana sector.

The company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange by way of a reverse takeover; shares opened trading Tuesday at $1.82 before settling to close at $1.55 apiece.

Nearly 3.6 million shares changed hands as many investors seek opportunities to pour into the hot marijuana market ahead of an expected recreational legalization announcement by the federal government this spring.

The company had been toying with the idea of going public for some time but had a couple “false starts” said CEO Sebastien St. Louis.

Chilliwack is now home to the first of “many” cannabis medical clinics in B.C. run by a publicly traded corporation that already has operations from Newfoundland to Alberta.

A Calgary company is hoping to make “escape rooms” great again by offering a Donald Trump-themed experience.

Confined Escape, located on 32 Avenue N.E., launched its new “Escape Trumps Tower” room on March 13.

In an email, spokesperson Alyson Turnbull said the reception for the room has been “very positive.”

“People find this room hilarious,” she said. “So far the reviews have been all five stars.”

Workers in safety sensitive workplaces will likely see increased scrutiny of marijuana impairment by employers once the drug is eventually legalized by the federal government, says labour lawyer Julie Menton.

Legislation is set to be introduced by summer 2017.

But, a Calgary-based oil and gas safety group recently raised concerns over workplace safety risks associated with increased use of marijuana.

Cronos Group Inc (CVE: MJN) (OTC: PRMCF) is one of the largest licensed cannabis producers in Canada, only trailing a few industry behemoths like CANOPY GROWTH CORP COM NPV (OTC: TWMJF), APHRIA INC COM NPV (OTC: APHQF) and AURORA CANNABIS IN COM NPV (OTCL ACBFF).

Canada’s “Princess of Pot” flew home to Vancouver Monday to cut ties with the cannabis empire she and her husband spent decades growing.

Jodie Emery returned to her Chinatown apartment for the first time since being released from custody earlier this month in Toronto, where she, her husband Marc Emery, and three other associates in the Cannabis Culture business were arrested and charged with a range of offenses including drug trafficking.

“I am so grateful to be back where the nature and the forest and the mountains can soothe my soul, after that concrete jungle,” she said Monday in her first interview since returning to Vancouver.

Delivra Corp. (TSX VENTURE: DVA) ("Delivra" or the "Company"), Dosecann Inc. ("Dosecann") and ARA-Avanti Rx Analytics Inc. ("Avanti") announced today a strategic partnership to develop a unique suite of standardized products for the medical cannabis research, development, and commercialization markets.

It could be as early as this year that you could walk into a store and purchase marijuana legally.

“It would only involve Health Canada regulated products, and they would be on display,” Derek Ogdan, president of National Access Cannabis said.

The new cannabis education centre opened in Winnipeg on Friday with the purpose of answering questions and connecting clients with a doctor. Ogdan said despite popular belief, the average age of their clients across the country is 41-years-old, and they prefer to use oils rather than smoke the substance.

“They take a dropper, use a dropper and take the exact amount that they want so there’s consistency. And then they’ll use that perhaps every evening,” Ogdan said.

The City of North Battleford is laying the groundwork for a medical marijuana facility to come to town.

The city is in the process of changing zoning bylaws to allow medical marijuana facilities to set up shop in it’s heavy industrial neighbourhood.

“We wanted to make sure that if there was ever to be interest in a development that it was being done in the right part of the city and that, to us, would be the heavy industrial area,” Mayor Ryan Bater said. “It just makes us prepared and, like any economic development project, we want to be prepared.”

The bylaw amendment was considered after a request from a developer, but there’s no development currently planned.

Bater said council is expected to pass the bylaw amendment later this month.