Holy smokes! Veterans are getting punished for the acts of some shady medical marijuana companies.

Last week, Vice News broke a story about the rising costs of medical marijuana for veterans and it shed light on the reasons for the drastic spike.

The biggest? Some legal cannabis producers are milking the system and actively recruiting veterans in order to max out their orders with only the most expensive cannabis strains — knowing it’s up to the government to foot the bill on veteran prescriptions.

When one savvy veteran caught on to his Health Canada-licensed producer hiding cheaper strains from the veteran menu, they called up the company and asked to see all the options.

Canopy Growth Corporation (Canopy Growth) (CGC) is pleased to provide the following update to its June 28, 2016 release on both the joint venture announcement with Entourage Phytolab (Entourage) and the formation of Bedrocan Brasil (Bedrocan Brasil), both companies partly owned by Canopy Growth Corporation.

First Export to South America

Canopy Growth's wholly-owned subsidiary Bedrocan Canada Inc. (Bedrocan Canada), has successfully exported 10 kg of dried cannabis to Brazil for research purposes. Securing a supply of standardized research grade cannabis is a major milestone in the Entourage clinical development plan and marks the first time to the Company's knowledge that medicinal cannabis from a Canadian Licensed Producer has been exported to South America.

When people hear that someone uses cannabis, they often give a nudge nudge​ wink wink and say, "Lucky you, getting high on weed, eh?"

I usually chuckle and reply that the official scientific name of the plant is "cannabis," and that it is medicine. For me, it's used to dull chronic nerve pain left after an invasive surgery to repair burst bowels and remove a 25-pound desmoid tumour.

It can also be used as an appetite stimulant, it quickly kills nausea and it relaxes anyone who needs to deal with frightening flashbacks of their time in hospital. 

The Canadian Paediatric Society is urging the federal government to take steps to protect children and youth should it follow through on its plan to legalize recreational marijuana next year.

It’s been a wild ride for Canada’s marijuana companies, whose stocks enjoyed an exhilarating high in recent days before mellowing out.

Last week, marijuana stocks suddenly skyrocketed, leaving market analysts bewildered. The enormous upswing in stock prices was even more amazing given that the government is giving every indication it plans to go slow in its promise to legalize recreational marijuana use — a move that the government estimates would unleash a $5 billion to $7 billion Canadian industry.

After dropping 15% on Tuesday, Canopy Growth Corp. (CVE:CGC, TSE:CGC) stock shot up with a 20% rebound on Wednesday, marking another change of fortune in the unpredictable marijuana production market.

The roller coaster that many of these marijuana producers—including Canopy Growth—have been riding recently shows no sign of slowing down, as the CGC stock share value rebounded yet again, demonstrating that the market has by no means settled yet.

Cannabis is hugely popular. 182m people use cannabis across the world and, with this level of exposure, the way cannabis is regulated matters. As does the evidence of risks and benefits to health which underpins regulation.

Sometimes saying nothing is as telling as saying something. Silence can suggest retaining the status quo. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been silent about the international regulatory controls on cannabis since its inception in 1935. The past 80 years have brought dramatic advances in scientific knowledge about cannabis, so it is odd that it has not provided updated advice about its legal status. 

It’s been a wild ride for marijuana stocks in the past month or so, from legalization in several states to the great weed boom and bust cycle we’re witnessing in the stock market. Now is the time to keep sharp on marijuana stocks.

With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of three different factors that any self-respecting marijuana stock investor should want to keep in mind.

Know Marijuana Stock’s Value 

You’e heard it before (even from us), but it bears repeating: Be careful about the hype.

Preliminary evidence suggests cannabis may be useful in the treatment of substance use disorders, possibly serving as an effective, but less harmful, substitute for pharmaceutical and recreational drugs, with more acceptable side effects. However, at least one expert is sceptical.

A new review suggests that rather than acting as a "gateway" to other, possibly more dangerous substances, there is an "emerging stream of research" suggesting that cannabis may serve as an "exit" drug, with the potential to facilitate a reduction in the use of other substances.