Article by Peter Smith, Daily Hive Kensington Market’s longstanding mecca to the cannabis community HotBox Cafe has been purchased by another Toronto marijuana monument, Friendly Stranger. In a press release on Friday, Friendly Stranger Holdings Corp, now the parent company of the Queen Street West cannabis accessory store, announced its acquisition of HotBox Cafe, located at 204 Augusta Avenue. The location in ...

Article by City News Abi Roach, the long-time owner of Kensington Market’s HotBox Cafe and one of the most vocal critics of the province’s initial lottery system for legal marijuana licences, has sold her popular business and taken a job with the government-run Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS). Roach announced on Twitter that she’s accepted a position as senior category manager ...

Article by Tara Deschamps, CTV News The gap between what Canadians pay for legal and illicit cannabis is widening – a sign experts say points to the need for the marijuana industry to make prices a priority this year. Statistics Canada said Thursday that the average price of legal cannabis increased to $10.30 per gram in the period between October ...

Article by Mark Brown, Black Burn News Four people have been arrested after allegedly operating a pot dispensary that was raided last week. Windsor police said officers patrolling on Wednesday noticed activity at a business on Erie Street East near Ouellette Avenue. It turned out to be an unlicensed cannabis operation that was previously closed down. According to Sergeant Steve Betteridge, ...

Article by Friendly Stranger Holdings Corp via Cision Newswire Friendly Stranger Holdings Corp (“FSHC” or the “Company”) has acquired HOTBOX™️, a cannabis accessory store located at 204 Augusta Ave, which has served over two million customers over the past two decades. The acquisition comes as part of FSHC’s continued plans to expand within the Licensed Cannabis Market. FSHC continues to add to its ...

Article by Jane Sims, London Free Press Rules are rules, the judge said. Ontario Court Justice Mark Poland said illegal marijuana dispensaries that flouted new marijuana retail laws in 2018 were akin to someone selling booze on their own just because they don’t want to go to the LCBO. Just because you might not like the rules, “you can’t simply ...

Article by Sam Riches, Growth Op Toronto’s historic Hot Box Cafe, which has operated out of Kensington Market for the last 20 years, is changing hands, owner Abi Roach tweeted on Wednesday morning. Roach has been a tireless advocate for cannabis policy reform for the last two decades. In addition to the Hot Box Cafe, she co-runs a neighbouring hydroponic business, and a bud-and-breakfast ...

Article by Vanmala Subramaniam, Growth Op Small and mid-sized cannabis companies say they are finding it increasingly hard to obtain basic credit facilities from some of Canada’s largest financial institutions amid heightened scrutiny on the struggling sector. “It seems that most charted banks do not want to entertain new applications for lines of credits, loans, or new bank accounts,” said ...

Article by David Yasvinski, Growth Op A tumultuous year for cannabis in Canada has carried over into 2020 with news that Report on Business Cannabis Professional,TheGlobe and Mail’s marijuana publication, will stop publishing soon. “Cannabis Professional will be discontinued as a stand-alone product as of Feb. 1, 2020,” Lanna Crucefex, communications manager for TheGlobe and Mail, told The GrowthOp. “Instead, we will be ...

Article by Gilbert Ngabo, Toronto Star It cost the city more than $350,000 to install — and then reinstall — giant concrete slabs to block the entrance to four illegal cannabis shops in Toronto last summer. The city’s senior communications adviser Alex Burke said the total cost was $361,459.49, which included the costs of labour to install, remove and reinstall ...