It was a predictably slow news week as we approached the end of the holidays. At StratCann, we were busy recapping our coverage of the cannabis industry over the past year. We looked at changes to cannabis rules and regulations in 2023 and compiled a recap of everything that happened with Ingestible Extracts in 2023. We also pulled the top seven Canadian cannabis stories of 2023.
We ran our newest feature piece from StratCann author Tim Wilson, who spoke with several thriving Canadian cannabis companies about what it takes to succeed in an incredibly competitive market.
In other cannabis news…
Global News Calgary reported on a new study from researchers at the University of Alberta that showed that women are turning to cannabis to relieve menopausal symptoms. They also spoke with a registered nurse at The Cannabis Nurses in Edmonton who helps menopausal women find the right products and doses.
The National Post did an in-depth feature on cannabis excise tax, with comments from Barry Katzman, CEO of Peak Processing, Owen Allerton, CEO of cannabis retailer Highland Cannabis, Ari Cohen and Tabitha Fritz of Fritz’s Cannabis Company, Niklas Kouparanis, CEO and co-founder of Bloomwell Group, one of Germany’s largest private cannabis companies, Darwin Fletcher, who is the founder and CEO of CANEXEC, and StratCann’s own David Brown.
Lineage Distribution (formerly Rogue Processing) was featured in an in-depth piece in the Winnipeg Free Press. The company was recently approved for a distribution agreement with Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation. The article also features comments from Trent Emmel of T8C, a cannabis grower in Saskatchewan, and CJ Cowan from Bud Mountain Aeroponics in Calgary.
The Barrie retail cannabis market is saturated, says Barrie Today, with 25 stores in the city listed as authorized to open and another five applications in progress. The author spoke with local retailers Ryan Grenville of One Plant Retail and Ray Le, manager at Budssmoke.
In November, Ontario announced it would soon increase the limit of cannabis retail store authorizations from 75 to 150 per licensed retail operator and their affiliates. That change comes into effect January 1, 2024.
High Tide will be opening its first Canna Cabana in Mississauga, Ontario. This opening will mark High Tide’s 162nd Canna Cabana branded location in Canada, the 54th in the province of Ontario and the first in Mississauga.
In April, Mississauga City Council voted to approve a motion to lift its prohibition on cannabis retail stores and permit them to be located in the second-largest city in Ontario. There are currently more than two dozen cannabis stores listed by the AGCO as being authorized to open in Mississauga.
Molecule Holdings Inc., a Canadian cannabis beverage production company with brands like Phresh and Dulces, announced the revocation of the “failure to file” cease trade order issued on October 5, 2023. Trading in the common shares of the company is expected to resume soon.
Cannabis News outlet Green State ran a piece entitled Dabbing culture and the rise of concentrate consumption. It referenced Vancouver’s Boro and Beyond, a company that sets up dab bars to help educate consumers about dabbing and the different tools that go along with it.
A man in Quebec was ordered to pay more than $100,000 for smoking cannabis in his condo, against condo rules.
A woman in Blind Bay, BC, reported she believed there was a grow operation in the neighbourhood because she could smell it in the air. Police explained that legislation allowed up to four plants to be grown at one residence, or there could be a licenced grow operation in the area.
An appeal of a conviction relating to charges connected to cannabis production and trafficking at Muileboom Organics was dismissed in Ontario. However, the court found that the sanctions imposed by the trial judge—a fine, forfeiture, conditional sentences, and probation—the inclusion of the electronic monitoring and house arrest for the duration of the conditional sentence orders resulted in a sentence that was demonstrably unfit.
The court deleted the electronic monitoring conditions in both conditional sentence orders and set aside the probation order. Muileboom was operating under personal and/or designated medical production licences.
