Combined Facility Capable of Generating an Estimated $30 Million a Year

Two people from Nova Scotia have been charged after RCMP seized a large amount of drugs during a traffic stop Thursday on the Trans-Canada Highway in Moncton.Police found what they believe to be 100 pounds of marijuana and 17 pounds of hashish in a vehicle that was travelling eastbound near the exit for Highway 15.Dale Fetinko, 51, and Stephanie Fetinko, 49, from Lawrencetown face charges for drug possession and trafficking.The two suspects have been remanded into custody and will appear in court on Feb. 15 for a bail hearing.RCMP say the investigation is ongoing.

Quebec’s finance minister is clarifying his comments about refusing to help with the federal government’s plan to legalize and regulate marijuana in Canada.

Carlos Leitao said Thursday his government wanted nothing to do with selling marijuana and that Ottawa should figure out on its own how to distribute pot on Quebec territory if and when it becomes legal.

Leitao took to Facebook later in the day to clarify his remarks.

He wrote that discussions about the distribution of marijuana are premature and the federal government still needs to create legislation to legalize and regulate the drug.

Police have laid more charges after a home search that saw the seizure of marijuana and stolen items in Mahone Bay last week.RCMP seized more than $20,000 worth of stolen property related to a number of recent thefts among many other things.

More Canadians are using medical marijuana for a wider array of health ailments, but the research hasn’t kept pace.

It was a watershed moment for the study of medical marijuana. This past December, Canadian university researchers, federal and provincial officials, patient advocates and industry representatives met in Vancouver to set priorities for evidence-based inquiries into a drug long overshadowed by its reputation as an illegal way to get high. The two-day, invitation-only meeting – convened by the Arthritis Society and partly funded by licensed growers of cannabis for medical purposes – is the latest sign that investigations of medical cannabis are moving into the research mainstream.

The City of Victoria has come up with about a dozen restrictions it wants to place on the pot shops that now proliferate the capital.

The storefront businesses are still technically illegal, but Victoria is looking to follow Vancouver's lead to license and regulate the operations.

"In my opinion, the number of dispensaries popping up with no regulation is completely unacceptable," said Mayor Lisa Helps. "I think we need to take some steps to remedy that."

There are roughly 30 medical marijuana businesses operating in the capital, many of which have popped up within the past year. 

The proposed restrictions include a number of health and safety measures:

Marijuana producer Tweed is pairing up with weed-smoking, gin-and-juice sipping Snoop Dogg in a deal that will grant the Ontario-based company exclusive rights to use certain content and brands owned by the rapper’s company, LBC Holdings.

In exchange for the rights, Tweed will pay Snoop Dogg an undisclosed amount in cash and stock.

The partnership is the rapper’s first foray into the Canadian cannabis industry.

Calvin Broadus Jr., the rapper known as Snoop Dogg, has made a number of investments recently in the marijuana business, including launching his own cannabis line, Leafs by Snoop, in Colorado last November.

Earlier last year, he created a venture capital fund focused on the pot industry called Casa Verde Capital.

Quebec wants nothing to do with selling marijuana, Finance Minister Carlos Leitao said Thursday, adding Ottawa can’t force the province to help set up a distribution network if and when pot is legalized.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his government will legalize and strictly regulate marijuana and will work with local authorities to come up with distribution methods, which could vary from province to province.

Trudeau’s comments sparked suggestions that pot could be sold out of government-run liquor stores.

Even the union representing employees of Quebec’s liquor authority had said it was favourable to the idea.

Leitao, however, said he has “no plan, no idea, no intention of commercializing (marijuana).

Saskatoon’s police chief says the Liberal government needs to clarify Canada’s marijuana laws to combat serious misunderstandings about the legality of the drug. 

“The police aren’t anti-marijuana,” Chief Clive Weighill said. “But we are in a situation right now that is a very grey zone.”

Weighill said despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s election promise that pot will be legalized for personal use, smoking, growing and selling weed in Canada is still against the law. 

Weighill, who is also president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said the government needs to offer clarity to people — especially those who believe that because of the election promise, the drug is already legal. 

The City of Victoria is asking for public input on proposed regulations targeting medical marijuana dispensaries.

The new rules would cover such issues as preventing storefront medical marijuana retailers from being any closer than 200m from any school or from each other.

They call for no signage of any kind that would allow minors to know the business sells medical marijuana.

And they cannot be open for business between 8 pm and 7 am.

The City says there are currently 30 medical marijuana-related businesses in Victoria including 26 storefront operations.

Mayor Lisa Helps says one aim of the proposed regulations is to reduce that number,