An advertisement for Weedmaps, a U.S.-based pot-related tech company, is pictured in this undated handout photo. The company plans on launching a billboard campaign in Toronto by the end of the month.

Mainstream medical marijuana ads could soon be coming to Toronto.

Weedmaps — a tech company that provides an online directory to connect medical marijuana users with dispensaries — is gearing up to launch what it calls the first mainstream marijuana-related ad campaign in Canada.

Pending permission from a local company, the ad campaign will launch at the end of May and feature the words “High Toronto” on a billboard towering above a yet-to-be-determined location.

As medical marijuana becomes both more socially acceptable and available, a growing number of people are looking to learn more about its benefits -- but the search for reliable and timely information is not always easy. Decades of misinformation about cannabis has made searching the web for answers a cumbersome and time-consuming process. Further, because new research and new cannabis products are being released at an ever-increasing rate, individuals find themselves having to scroll through numerous sites to find exactly what they're looking for. 

Vancouver pot shops have won seven-for-10 at the city’s board of variance since March, having brought forward successful arguments for second cracks at marijuana business licenses. 

While it’s a tidal shift from the first two months of hearings when every decision went against shopkeepers, even the most keen observers, appellants and their lawyers would have a difficult time divining the precise ingredients that make for a successful pot shop appeal. In some cases, shops with nearly identical characteristics have received opposite decisions at the board.

On April 20 (fittingly enough), Canadian Health Minister Jane Philpott announced that legislation to legalize recreational marijuana use would be introduced by spring 2017. Now the speculation on what the government's cannabis regulations will look like have finally begun.

As Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the country's Liberal Party move forward with their big agenda following last year's election, the US's northern neighbor could soon undertake an enormous change in drug policy: marijuana legalization.

Jean Chretien says politicians have to adjust to changing times, as his own views on marijuana, capital punishment and other contentious issues evolved after he was first elected in the early 1960s.

Whether it's pot smoking, abortion, gay marriage or the death penalty, the former prime minister says he's tried to reflect the spirit of the times — even if his changing politics put him in conflict with his conservative upbringing in a large, Roman Catholic family in rural Quebec.

"What were certain values 50 years ago, are not the same today. We have to live with that. It's not always easy," he said.

When asked Monday about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's decision to legalize the sale of marijuana, Chretien said he is in favour of decriminalization.

A veterans group says auditor general Michael Ferguson's latest report clouds the most important issue when it comes to the increasing use of medical marijuana to treat injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

Clayton Goodwin, of the Veterans Accountability Commission, one of a growing number of grassroots organizations, says last week's audit focused too narrowly on the rising cost of the program and not on the health benefits of switching from pharmaceuticals to medicinal pot.

He claims there are cost-savings associated with dropping prescription drugs, and would have preferred to see the report analyze that aspect.

Care for a slice? You’d probably bump into a pot dispensary quicker than you would a Pizza Pizza in Toronto.

There are 100 dispensaries in the city with another 21 scheduled to open in the coming days, according to The Big Toke, a Toronto-based consulting firm for Canadian cannabis brands.

The firm published a map of dispensaries in the city.

By comparison, there are 105 Pizza Pizza outlets in Toronto proper.

Vancouver city councillor Kerry Jang is calling on Toronto to adapt their city’s dispensary licencing system.

Inside licensed producer Mettrum’s 1,600-square-metre pot-growing facility — where the rows of Super Lemon Haze really do smell like lemons.

Forget the illegal marijuana “dispensaries” that are popping up like weeds across Toronto and will soon face a crackdown by city staff over zoning.

The only legally available medicinal marijuana is prescribed by a medical doctor, comes from producers licensed — and inspected — by Health Canada, and is delivered directly to patients’ doors by Canada Post.

Former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, left, speaks with former MP Bob Rae during the launch of the MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance at Dalhousie University in Halifax Monday. Chretien said it is time the government decriminalized pot possession.

Former prime minister Jean Chrétien says it's time for Canada to decriminalize marijuana possession, saying the change is long overdue.

Chrétien made the comment today after taking part in a ceremony to mark the official opening of a public policy think-tank at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

The former prime minister says it is unacceptable for anyone to be saddled with a criminal record for simply smoking marijuana.