This past week, StratCann looked at claims of product dumping and two-tiered testing from Australian cannabis producers regarding Canadian cannabis imports. 

Ontario re-affirmed a $31 million commitment to take on the illicit cannabis market, while a new annual report says ​​New Brunswickers, like much of Canada, prefer convenient cannabis products. 

Surrey City Council will consider 12 cannabis store locations, the first in the city, and we looked into some of the details emerging in CSU raids on OKIB land near Vernon, BC. Meanwhile, Decibel Cannabis is set to acquire AgMedica Bioscience.

In Financial news, we looked at the BC LDB’s and Cannabis NB’s most recent quarterly report, annual reports from Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, and PEI, as well as Ayurcann’s most recent quarterly report, while a court weighed in on a dispute over Simply Solventless’s stock valuation. 

RCMP raided two unlicensed cannabis stores on Vancouver Island, seizing 120,000 “copycat” cannabis edibles, while RCMP in Nova Scotia seized cannabis and psilocybin from an unlicensed store, charging three. Police in Woodstock, NB, arrested two in a raid on October 22.

In other cannabis news

Decibel Cannabis Company Inc. announced that, further to its news release dated October 28, 2024, it intends to complete a non-brokered private placement of up to 58,333,333 common shares in capital for gross proceeds of up to $3,500,000 at $0.06 per Common Share.

Vencanna Ventures Inc., an Alberta-based go-to capital provider for early-stage cannabis initiatives, announced that the Alberta Securities Commission issued a cease trade order against the company on October 25, 2024.

Newly-elected Luke Randall is now Minister responsible for Opportunities NB, Minister responsible for Economic Development and Small Business, and Minister responsible for NB Liquor and Cannabis NB.

RCMP in Halifax says investigators learned that two youths each returned home to find a dozen pre-rolled joints among their Halloween treats.

Following a previously-announced breach of certain financial covenants and other obligations by Entourage Health Corp. under each of its Senior Credit Agreement and Subordinated Credit agreements with an affiliate of the LiUNA Pension Fund of Central and Eastern Canada (LPF), Entourage is working collaboratively with LPF to agree on amended debt terms. 

Simply Solventless Concentrates Ltd. announced that further to its press releases dated September 26, 2024, and October 18, 2024, it expects approximately 98% of the August 2026 $0.20 warrants to be exercised for proceeds of approximately $2,950,000. SSC also announces that for administrative purposes and varying financial institution purposes, it has extended the expiry of the August 2026 warrants to November 29, 2024. 

ABLE BC reminds industry that on Friday, November 15, 2024, starting at 6:00 a.m., the BC Cannabis Wholesale website will be temporarily out-of-service to accommodate an update to the e-commerce platform hosted by Shopify. The outage is expected to last between four and 12 hours. There will be no change to the website user/customer experience with this update.

The Telegraph Journal ran a feature on Organigram. 

Delta 9 is now seeking an extension of its stay period up to and including January 31, 2025.

Yukon Liquor Corporation released its annual report for cannabis from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024. The territory sold $9.2 million worth of cannabis in the most recent year, up from $7.7 million in the year prior. 

The Tokyo Smoke store at 333 Yonge Street in downtown Toronto is now going to be a One Plant Cannabis store.

The “Industrial Hemp Market Report Forecast by Type, Sources, Application, Region Companies Analysis 2024-2032″ has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering.

A recent study says frequent cannabis use may improve sleep for young adults with depression and/or anxiety who have pre-existing sleep problems, but worsen sleep for young adults without depression and/or anxiety. 

Another study found that participants who used cannabis in the 30 days before the survey reported significantly higher loneliness scores than those who never used cannabis, after adjusting social-demographic, social interaction, and pandemic-related factors. 

Cannabis use during pregnancy can impact thinking and learning skills and increase aggression among children, according to this new study.

In a city council meeting on October 21, the Burnaby BC council approved a measure to allow private cannabis stores to apply in certain sub-districts in the city. Before this, only government-run BC Cannabis stores were allowed. 

International cannabis news 

Prosecutors recently indicted a Canadian dental assistant after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32 kilograms of cannabis into Taiwan. The 30-year-old female suspect was arrested on August 4 after arriving on a flight to Taoyuan International Airport.

A Canadian woman arrested earlier this year for importing cannabis into the UK was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment on October 24.

Two major programs to combat illegal cannabis in California sent out news releases lauding their collective seizures of some $544 million worth of illicit weed. But when it comes to reigning in California’s sprawling black market, experts say it’s just a drop in the bucket, reports the LA Times.

Freakonomics Radio continued its four-part series on the cannabis industry in the US. The parallels with the issues facing the Canadian industry and market are unmistakable.

Arizona residents are now able to get recreational cannabis delivered to their homes as of Friday, marking a new milestone for a state program that until now had allowed the service only for medical cannabis patients. Recreational cannabis sales began in Arizona in 2021 under a voter-approved ballot initiative. 

A law that New York City has relied on to padlock scores of suspected unlicensed cannabis shops is unconstitutional because it violates the rights of store owners, a judge ruled Tuesday.

The German cities of Frankfurt and Hannover are model projects aimed at testing controlled retail sales in specialized stores, scheduled to launch in early 2025. Hannover’s project will involve up to three official sales locations at pharmacies, with a five-year timeline. In Frankfurt, the model project follows a similar structure but will operate within dedicated cannabis stores

.A Berlin-based cannabis company acquired and analyzed 300 samples of illicit cannabis from across Germany and several international cities. They found  32% of the illegal cannabis samples contained hairspray, 47% cocaine, and 65% had feces. Even more common are bacteria and viruses (74%) and dangerous pesticides (71%).