McLellan said there are “important lessons” to be taken from places that have already loosened marijuana laws — chief among them to introduce change slowly.

Anne McLellan, leader of the federal task force on how to legalize pot, says it’s critical that Canada “go slow” on reforming marijuana laws.

In an interview with Torstar News Service as the task force concluded public consultations and begins to winnow recommendations to government, McLellan said there are “important lessons” to be taken from places that have already loosened marijuana laws — chief among them to introduce change slowly.

Changes to the Canada Pension Plan? A piddly 47 responses. Input on the most inspirational Canadians? About 12,000 people weighed in.

But public online consultation about legalizing marijuana netted 30,000 responses, proving pot stokes the passions of the Canadian public. (Though not quite as engaging as the topic of prostitution, which drew 31,172 responses.)

A vast majority of the pot submissions — 29,000 or so — were responses to an online survey.

Questions in the survey included:

Regulations include 200 metres separating dispensaries from each other, and schools.

After months of discussion, tough regulations are coming into effect for operators of Victoria’s 38 marijuana dispensaries.

City council voted last night to move ahead with the new Medical Cannabis Business License Bylaw.

That means that as of October first, all storefront marijuana retailers have to apply for a business license, and eventually, rezoning.

At last night’s public meeting, speakers made their case for:

“I’m really proud of the fact to be from a city that is thinking of this.”

“Just want thank council for being very progressive towards policy going forward.”

Modifications to the Canada Pension Plan? A piddly 47 responses. Enter on probably the most inspirational Canadians? About 12,000 folks weighed in.

However public on-line session about legalizing marijuana netted 30,000 responses, proving pot stokes the passions of the Canadian public. (Although not fairly as partaking as the subject of prostitution, which drew 31,172 responses.)

A overwhelming majority of the pot submissions — 29,000 or so — have been responses to an internet survey.

Canada will push the United States to change a border policy that has banned Canadians who admit to having used marijuana from travel to the United States, given Canada’s plans to legalize pot, a government spokesman said on Friday.

The case of a Canadian man barred from U.S. travel because he admitted to having smoked pot recreationally has sparked a debate about U.S. border agents using a federal law against marijuana use, even though pot use is legal in several states and soon to be legal in Canada.

“We obviously need to intensify our discussions with our border authorities in the United States, including the Department of Homeland Security,” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp late on Thursday.

Canadian cannabis producers say they are ramping up their operations to keep up with growing demand for medical marijuana and in anticipation of legislation that would allow for recreational use of the drug.

Alberta-based Aurora Cannabis is planning to expand its operations by 600,000 square feet over the next two years. That's a more than tenfold increase over its 55,200 square-foot facility, nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, and would boost production to 70,000 kilograms per year, up from 7,000.

The first 200,000 square feet, which is set to begin producing marijuana by next spring, is needed to satisfy the burgeoning demand from the medical market, says Aurora CEO Terry Booth.

"The medical business in Canada is going crazy," says Booth.

Scotiabank and the Royal Bank of Canada say they aren't providing accounts to companies associated with the marijuana industry, leaving some business owners scrambling to find alternate arrangements.

After a decade-long relationship with Scotiabank, Hemp Country owner Nathan MacLellan says he received a letter from the bank late last month stating his account was being cancelled.

The store in Woodstock, Ont., sells marijuana-related items such as pipes and bongs but no actual cannabis, MacLellan says.

"It's kind of insulting really, especially when legalization is right on the horizon," he says.

"Nothing in the store that we sell is illegal. Every single variety store sells pipes and bongs nowadays, so why are they singling us out all of a sudden?"

Kevin Coft and his medical marijuana startup are benefiting in a big way as the New Brunswick government embraces the job opportunities this budding industry could bring to the province.

On Aug. 23, the government invested $4-million in Zenabis, a company Mr. Coft launched to build a proposed medical marijuana facility in Atholville, N.B. The money comes in the form of a repayable loan, and Mr. Coft says it signals that Premier Brian Gallant’s Liberal government is serious about supporting the sector.

Because Hai Thi Pham was growing 1,110 marijuana plants in a high-rise building in north west Toronto, in an apartment she didn't own, she should have received a mandatory minimum sentence of two—maybe three—years in prison.

But an Ontario judge called that sentence cruel, unusual, and unconstitutional this week, adding another crack in the dam of Stephen Harper's trademark mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes.

Justice Michael Code of the Ontario Superior Court tore through the Criminal Code sentences for marijuana cultivation.

Under Canadian law, there are a series of escalating punishments for growing pot.

Canada’s doctors are calling for strict limits on legalized pot smoking, saying the minimum age should be 21. And amounts and potency of products sold to those under 25 should be tightly controlled, the Star has learned.

In a brief for a federal task force studying the legalization of marijuana, the Canadian Medical Association does not support or oppose legalization, but makes a range of go-slow recommendations. It urges more money be spent on research, medical and social services for addictions treatment, a ban on home cultivation, a ban on smoking non-medical marijuana in public places, and pilot projects before a full national rollout of legalized marijuana.

Several of its concerns will find high-profile support from Canada’s police chiefs.