This week at StratCann, contributor Dave Dormer spoke with an Edmonton city councillor who says provinces need to amend rules to allow cannabis industry growth, and we shared marketing and promotion compliance efforts from Health Canada (including a correction of a few of our own figures).
We also looked at a new report that calls for more of a public health focus to US cannabis laws, while Aurora and UBC partnered on research to breed fruity-smelling cannabis, Mother Labs has a plan to bring its cannabis to the German market, and Sea Dog Farm spoke about why they revoked their micro cultivation licence.
New survey info from Statistics Canada shows people using less cannabis than the year prior. In Quebec, 16 people were arrested in connection to production sites operated by individuals police say are linked to organized crime. In Edmonton, police want help identifying a man in a fake beard robbing cannabis stores.
And, of course, a new month means a new cannabis jobs update, listing just a handful of the many positions available in the Canadian cannabis industry.
In other cannabis news…
Cannabis Now ran a long piece on Newfoundland’s Oceanic Releaf with the company CEO, Taylor Giovannini. The CEO also made news in 2023 when she called out Trudeau on the federal government’s abandonment of the cannabis industry.
Kelowna’s Hi Cannabis was broken into early Sunday morning, causing thousands of dollars in damage.
This comes less than a week after another store, The Vault Cannabis Ltd., burned down. Once the fire was extinguished, a burned-out vehicle was located inside.
A man accused of robbing Cannabis NB with a BB gun and stealing thousands from the same store now has a warrant out for his arrest after missing court on Friday, October 4.
Halton police in Ontario are looking for one suspect following the armed robbery of a cannabis shop, Buds House, in Burlington on Tuesday, October 1.
Switching to a flat-rate tax or a standardized excise stamp would help the industry ‘overnight,’ the Cannabis Council of Canada’s Paul McCarthy tells the Hill Times (paywall). The article also quotes Frank Grossi, CEO and president of cannabis producer Bloom House Cannabis, and Crystal Cure Cannabis CEO Jonathan Wilson.
A group of cannabis producers in BC is calling on the provincial government to lower the 15% fee for direct delivery.
In late September, workers at Kiaro Cannabis in Port Coquitlam joined UFCW 1518, becoming the latest members of the BC Budtender Union.
Edmonton’s Bubble Bud Inc. issued a press release urging Health Canada to act on what it says are deficiencies in cannabis beverage testing. More on this from StratCann next week.
Molecule Holdings Inc., a Canadian cannabis beverage production company, announced that it entered into a contract manufacturing agreement with unnamed “globally-recognized leading cannabis company.”
Greenway Greenhouse Cannabis Corporation announced that it has now sold more than 30,000 KG of product.
A pair of Nova Scotia Legal Aid lawyers appeared in Dartmouth provincial court Tuesday on behalf of two Montreal women arrested in a cannabis seizure at the Halifax airport this summer, reports Saltwire.
Canada saw substantial decreases in medical cannabis patient registrations, but the remaining patients stabilized their purchasing frequencies and increased their purchase sizes, according to a new research paper.
International cannabis news…
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Port of Buffalo between New York state and Ontario discovered ecstasy pills, ecstasy gummies, and more than four pounds of cannabis in two commercial shipments at the Peace Bridge border crossing.
A woman arriving on a flight from Canada was arrested in Lagos airport in Nigeria on Thursday, October 3rd with 35 kg of cannabis. She told local officials that she was recruited online to deliver the cannabis for $10,000. Nigerian officials often refer to cannabis from Canada as “Canadian loud” and refer to it as being “synthetic” although this seems unlikely given all available images.
The New York Times ran an in-depth piece on the potential harms associated with cannabis use.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill that gives licensed cannabis lounges the right to sell food and offer ticketed events, creating Amsterdam-style cannabis cafes where people can smoke weed and eat food at the same business.
California’s Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce (UCETF) seized more than $2.3 million in illegally cultivated cannabis, including 2,652 plants in a single operation. In addition to the illegally cultivated cannabis, UCETF seized multiple bags of an illegal pesticide.
This November, an Oregon ballot measure will ask voters whether to make it easier for cannabis workers to unionize.
Vermont’s cannabis regulatory panel has paused all new retail license applications. Board members said the decision is because of concerns that the market is oversaturated in some areas.
Finally, although cannabis possession and consumption was recently legalized in Germany, some cities are placing restrictions on where and when it can be consumed. In Kaiserslautern in southwest Germany, consumption is now prohibited on school days from 7 am to 6 pm in the vicinity of city hall and other areas. The ban will stay in effect until at least October 31, 2025, and offenders could face fines of up to EU€30,000, according to the city. A similar ban is planned for the Messeplatz area of Germany during the October festival later this month.
