Canopy Growth Corporation ("Canopy Growth" or the "Company") (CGC.TO)  today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire MedCann GmbH Pharma and Nutraceuticals (MedCann), a German-based pharmaceutical distributor who has successfully placed Tweed-branded cannabis strains in German pharmacies.

MedCann has proven its ability to navigate the complex regulatory environment for cannabis importation and distribution in Germany . With a highly experienced leadership team, led by Dr. Pierre Debs , it has established itself as a leading cannabis importer and distributor within Germany where the cannabis industry still relies solely on imported products.

The thought of marijuana cultivation brings to mind images of the a “Back to the Land” Movement, and perhaps of a philosophy that eschews waste and aims for practices that are more in tune with the environment.

But the marijuana business has a dirty secret: it is likely that illicit marijuana grow ops use 40 per cent more electricity than metal mining in Canada today.

Vancouver dispensary owners are anxious about the federal government’s plan to legalize recreational marijuana but confident the process will eventually be to their benefit.

“We’ve sat with the federal task force and apparently made some really good impressions there,” Jeremy Jacob, president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries (CAMCD), told the Georgia Straight.

“Anne McLellan, the chair of the task force, she spent three hours at the Vancouver Compassion Club,” Jacob recounted. “And she came out saying, ‘How are we going to regulate these shops?’ And according to Mark Ware, the vice chair, he said that certain members of the task force had life-changing experiences while visiting dispensaries.”

Ottawa’s march toward a controlled market for legal marijuana in Canada takes a major step forward this week with the delivery of a task force report that includes advice on a minimum age, product warnings and measures to prevent drug-impaired driving.

The report on pot legalization will be delivered to cabinet by Wednesday, said task force chair Anne McLellan, a lawyer and former federal cabinet minister in the Chrétien and Martin governments.

Ms. McLellan said her nine-person group – which has received 30,000 online submissions and visited U.S. states with experience in the legalization process – has authored a responsible, fair and balanced report that will “engender a lot of interest.”

John Stewart used to run the pharmaceutical company behind the narcotic painkiller OxyContin. Now he is banking on medical marijuana.

Mr Stewart does not know which is more controversial these days, OxyContin or pot.

He guesses the average person would give "a bigger negative" to the powerful and controversial painkiller that has been linked to the opioid overdose and addiction epidemic in the US and Canada.

"There is a lot of anti-opioid sentiment," he says, delicately. "And certainly based on the social disruption that we've seen it's understandable."

There are currently eight U.S. states, including California, where the use of both recreational and medical marijuana is totally legal. A bunch more allow for the use of medical marijuana; it’s a given that more states will legalize recreational use in the future. And why not, when 60% of Americans and 70% of Canadians feel it should be legal?

It’s a big reason why Canopy Growth Corp. (TSX:CGC) stock has risen exponentially over the last three years—up almost 500% on an annualized basis. Everyone on Bay Street is talking about CGC stock with good reason; it has the potential to be a dominant player in the growing and distribution of marijuana both in Canada and elsewhere.

Canada will soon introduce legislation to legalise recreational marijuana. Pot advocates are not as happy as you might think.

The Cannabis Culture dispensary in downtown Toronto gets a steady stream of foot traffic around noon on a weekday.

But Marc Emery, who helped set up the franchise that flouts Canadian drug laws by selling pot to anyone over 19, is annoyed.

The dispensary had been raided the day before by Toronto police.

"It's the government's intention to legalise it. So why is the government still arresting people?" he asks.

Mr Emery is just one of many owners of illegal marijuana storefronts that have mushroomed in cities across Canada after the federal Liberals were elected in 2015.

After the release of a Trailer Park Boys–inspired whiskey, Ricky, Bubbles and Julian are now trying to go legal with their own marijuana.

Marijuana legalization is looming in Canada, but what's in today's weed — and what isn't — may surprise you.

CBC's Marketplace looked into the marijuana market ahead of the coming legislative shift, which is expected in spring 2017.

When producers visited seven Toronto dispensaries and collected 12 of the most popular marijuana strains, laboratory test results showed average THC levels of around 20 per cent. THC is the active ingredient that provides pot's high.

Some strains reached as high at 30 per cent THC, much higher than pot in the 1970s, when levels in Canada hovered between two to eight per cent, according to Jonathan Page, an adjunct professor of botany at the University of British Columbia.