This past week, we shared a new guidance document on intoxicating cannabinoids from Health Canada and looked at what some in the industry think of the new OCS THC testing program.
We also looked into new figures from Health Canada showing inventory levels declining slightly, and new numbers from CCX showing that wholesale cannabis prices also appear to be rebounding.
BZAM announced they were entering into an agreement to acquire Final Bell’s Canadian operation, which comes with some very interesting brands, including Jeeter Canada.
We looked at an interesting court case dealing with the appropriation of a cannabis store by a First Nations community on Vancouver Island, and we shared new information from Calgary Police on a string of cannabis store robberies in the city.
In other cannabis news:
The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC) says it will reinstate cannabis home delivery after some rural customers were cut off when the NSLC switched from Canada Post to a private courier company “to harmonize…home delivery programs for both beverage alcohol and cannabis.”
Kelowna, BC is planning on lowering its annual fees for cannabis retailers, from $9,500 to $650. “We’re doing an update to the cannabis licence bylaw, which is going to happen in January or February, but we’re holding off on formal renewals of the $10,000 cannabis licences – there’s 18 – until after we change the bylaw next year so that they’ll pay the same fee as a retail liquor store,” City of Kelowna Planning Director Ryan Smith said.
Charges against a Winnipeg man accused of handing out cannabis gummies on Halloween have been stayed. Sheldon Chochinov and his wife, Tammy Sigurdur, allegedly gave out THC candies to multiple children on October 31, 2022. Sigurdur previously pleaded guilty to charges of supplying cannabis to a young person and possessing cannabis that is not packed, labelled or stamped. Sigurdur is expected to return to court for a sentencing hearing in January.
Cannara Biotech Inc. announced its Q4 2023 report with net revenues of $18.3 million, net income of $4.6 million, and gross profits of $9.8 million. As of October 2023, Cannara has an 8.8% market share in Quebec, 3.2% in Ontario, 2.3% in Alberta, and 0.9% in BC. The company also increased production capacity by 50% in 2023.
The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake gave the go-ahead for retail sales of cannabis in the community to begin when it voted to lift the moratorium on sales and possession for retail sales during its Monday meeting. The chief responsible for the dossier said she expects sales to begin in the New Year.
StratCann interviewed MCK Chief Tonya Perron about their plans for cannabis regulations in 2021. The lifting of the moratorium allows the Kahnawake Cannabis Control Board (CCB) to begin issuing the three licences that will be available for sales of cannabis, and possession of cannabis for sale, as soon as they get through what Perron expects will be a mountain of work on awarding those licences. Numerous stores operating in the area say they do not recognize the Council’s authority.
Researchers with Nova Scotia Health spoke with CBC about a national study into the long-term effects of cannabis on young people.
More info came out this week on a story StratCann covered earlier this year involving a micro cultivator in Manitoba who was arrested in connection with drug trafficking and money laundering schemes that involved cryptocurrency, along with smuggling cannabis concentrate in and out of the country using barrels of honey and maple syrup, police say.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) says they intercepted 10,100 kg of cannabis in 2023.
International
4C Labs, located in the self-governing British Crown dependency of Guernsey, has a licence to grow on the island but intends to import the majority of its product from Canada.
According to new data shared by MJBiz, medical cannabis companies in Australia exported 1,510 kilograms of cannabis in 2022 and produced 24,900 kilograms, up from 16,700 kilograms in 2021.
The US DEA is now warning Georgia pharmacies to stop selling THC products. Georgia recently became the first US state to allow cannabis sales in pharmacies.
