A continuing studies course at Kwantlen that began as a joke has attracted over 500 students who see medical marijuana as a growing industry.

A continuing studies course that began as a joke two years ago has attracted over 500 students who see medical marijuana as a growing job opportunity.

“With 2,000 producers waiting for their licences, there are huge employment possibilities within the industry,” said Laura Armstrong, who has a masters in horticulture science and experience working in cut flower greenhouses. She’s currently completing Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Cannabis Professional Series online course.

“There are only eight licensed producers in B.C. compared to 22 in Ontario.”

The Canadian Senate will meet today to discuss the legalization of recreational cannabis.

Although this will be the first time the Senate discusses recreational cannabis since October, we do not expect this meeting to be any different than the one prior.

The purpose of this meeting is to discuss questions raised by Senator Claude Carignan after a Task Force provided its recommendations for a legal recreational cannabis program last month. Senator Carignan has said that cannabis will have enormous consequences at every level and is the biggest public policy issue Canada faces.

With more Canadians than ever having legal access to medical marijuana and with the legalization of recreational use promised this spring, Radical Gardens is positioning itself to take advantage of the market for THC-laced edibles.

Late next month, the local market and restaurant will be offering cooking classes to teach medical marijuana prescription holders how to cook their own edibles; from the stereotypical pot brownie to much more complicated recipes such as candies. Co-owner of Radical Gardens, Brianna Humphrey, said that locals have already been coming to her business asking for advice on how to prepare their medical marijuana.

The booming medical marijuana business is desperate to expand, so Canada’s cannabis growers are moving into spaces deserted by shrinking industries such as oil and gas and manufacturing.

In June of 2013, Mark Zekulin, president of Tweed Inc. (a subsidiary of publicly traded Canopy Growth Corp., Canada’s largest marijuana producer), walked into Dennis Staples’s office with a business proposition: to turn a 470,000-square-foot former chocolate factory into the future home for millions of dollars in marijuana plants.

It took just half an hour to convince Mr. Staples, then the mayor of Smiths Falls, Ont., to convert the town’s abandoned Hershey chocolate factory into a medical marijuana grow-op.

In late 2016, we reported on Canopy Growth’s (CGC.TO: TSX) (TWMJF: OTC) announced acquisition of medical cannabis producer Mettrum Health (MT.V: TSX Venture) (MQTRF: OTC).

Last week, the companies’ shareholders approved the all-stock acquisition valued at $430 million. Now, the deal needs to be approved by an Ontario Supreme Court Justice and it is likely to come into effect on January 31st.

After a certain amount of time, counter-cultures lose their subversiveness the same way the flower power era of the late 1960’s eventually did. Hippies become Yuppies and “Good Vibrations” is used to sell cans of Sunkist.

Similarly, the meaning and cultural significance of today’s marijuana icons and stoner-culture symbols are eroding in Canada and other countries around the world. With the shedding of taboos, marijuana is clearly ready for prime time. But just how big will Canada’s marijuana industry become?

Two hundred marijuana plants started growing in a large industrial building in Kitchener’s south end on Friday.

They belong to James E. Wagner Cultivation, which is the 38th company to receive a licence to grow marijuana from Health Canada – and the first such company in Kitchener.

“We’re excited to be able to finally help the patients of Canada navigate the challenges of the medicinal cannabis market,” company president Nathan Woodworth said in an interview.

The company started with a group of Waterloo Region residents who were licensed to produce marijuana for themselves.

Over time, their association evolved into a decision to develop a larger operation.

Before Brad Austin arrived at work one recent morning, his stock market investments were up by $4,000. The bump was something the sales manager at an Edmonton car dealership has become accustomed to, despite having no prior trading experience and no financial advisers to guide him.

Austin says he knows what he’s doing, but he also has luck on his side. He won $20,000 playing slot machines at a casino in August and decided to drop all of the spoils, plus another $5,000 of his own cash, into another big bet: cannabis stocks.

He has not been disappointed.

Austin made $70,000 — close to what he’d earn at the dealership in an entire year — only five months into what he expects will be a years-long investment play.