Article by Katie Toth, CBC News After a Senate committee proposed postponing cannabis legalization so that Indigenous leaders could have a seat at the table, a federal agency on the file has responded —  the problem is with the current system, and putting off legalization won’t fix that, it says. “The current system is not working — Canada has some of the highest rates of youth use of cannabis, the illegal ...

Article by Ottawa Sun The Ontario Cannabis Store – which will be a government operation – should stay out of the marijuana accessory market. The current plan is for all marijuana, once legalized, to be sold through these provincial pot shops. And nowhere else. That’s because the nanny state feels only it can control for buyers’ safety and security. But ...

Article by Piper Courtenay, Straight Cannabis Ottawa is deep in the weeds today. The Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs met to discuss access to cannabis treatment for veterans; the Standing Committee on Finance met to discuss the proposed excise tax; and, the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology met to discuss, well, pretty much everything. In the latter, the ...

Article by Sean Eckford, Coast Reporter Cannabis dispensary owners Michelle and Doug Sikora say it’s back to business as usual at their S&M Medicinal Sweet Shoppe in Gibsons after they were granted a stay of proceedings on trafficking and possession charges. The Sikoras were charged in March 2016 after an RCMP raid on their home in late 2015. Provincial Court ...

Article by Nick Wing, Huffington Post As the nation’s nearly 80-year history of pot prohibition slowly begins to crumble, starting with Colorado’s recent implementation of taxed and legalized recreational marijuana, critics of the increasingly popular policy shift are jumping to denounce the move. A number of white pundits and newspaper columnists have been among the most vocal, claiming that marijuana must ...

Article by Philip Lee-Shanok, CBC News There’s concern that admitting to growing marijuana at home for recreational use — which would be allowed under proposed federal legislation — could result in a homeowners’ or renters’ insurance premiums growing like a weed. “It’s happening already,” said Alex Rea, vice-president of Homegrown Hydroponics Inc., which supplies equipment to both small hobbyist indoor gardeners and large licensed producers of medical marijuana. ...

Article by Jeremy Berke, Business Insider Canada’s legal marijuana market is seeing green in more ways than one. A new report from CIBC, one of Canada’s largest banks, estimates marijuana will be a $6.5 billion industry by 2020 in the country. That’s more than the $5.1 billion Canadians spent on liquor in 2017, and it’s approaching wine sales. CIBC predicts Canadians will buy ...

Article by Joan Bryden, Toronto Star Banning Canadians from growing a few marijuana plants in their homes or backyards once recreational cannabis is legalized would be both paternalistic and unenforceable, former federal justice minister Anne McLellan says. McLellan, who chaired the federal task force on cannabis legalization, offered that opinion Wednesday during an appearance before the Senate’s social affairs committee, which is ...

Article by Jillian Kestler-D’Amours, Aljazeera Annamaria Enenajor says it’s about righting a wrong. The Toronto-based lawyer is among a group of other professionals and activists leading a campaign to get the Canadian government to grant amnesty to those with simple cannabis possession convictions on their records. With Canada planning to legalise recreational marijuana by July 1, amnesty would address an “historic injustice” that has ...

Article by Catherine Cullen, CBC News When the federal government revealed what pot legalization would look like in Canada, it put forward two proposed laws to police the new regime: one to change the rules governing the sale and distribution of the drug itself and another to help police better address impaired driving. Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould said they were “companion” ...