• She argued the compacts do not challenge legitimacy of tribal rights to regulate within their borders, and that this acknowledgement of tribal sovereignty is the shortest route to province-First Nations agreements on cannabis, tobacco, and other issues. Such agreements would sidestep the complex dance of federal and provincial laws in First Nations.
  Twitter—Delbert Riley Jr.
• The Anishinabek Police Service, supported by Batchewana Police Service (from the Batchewana First Nation of Ojibways), raided an on-reserve dispensary in Garden River First Nation, arresting two for future charges.
  CTV News, Twitter—Jordan Brant
• No Ontario police force was involved in the raid—which makes it a great deal less legally complicated, since there is no question the APS and BPS had jurisdiction on reserve. That won’t make the raid any less controversial—especially since they were enforcing Ontario law.
  Twitter—Jordan Brant

Quick Hits

1. US Customs and Border Protection said drug seizures have increased 190% at Canadian border crossings, and they blame legalization. The majority of the seizures have involved cannabis.
   GrowthOp

Quick Hits

1. A Toronto Law student has produced a cannabis legislation tracker, which scans the internet twice daily for changes to cannabis law.
   Canadian Lawyer
2. Scholars called for an end to restrictions on cannabis research, such as the ban on industry-researcher partnerships similar to bans on partnerships between researchers and alcohol or tobacco companies. Such bans do not exist for oil and gas companies or pharmaceuticals.
   Policy Options

• Leave grey-market businesses alone to transition into the legal market,
• Prioritize provincial-wholesale purchasing from BC LPs,
• Allow farm-gate sales,
• Aid micro-class licensees in getting “enhanced” access to the REC market, and
• Establish private wholesale so private REC retailers can buy direct from craft producers.
  MJ Biz Daily

Quick Hits

1. Over the next five years, electricity consumption by Ontario LPs is expected to grow tenfold.
   The Star
2. McGill University signed an agreement to collaborate on MED research with Maltese foreign-investment agency Malta Enterprise. Some criticized industry enthusiasm for working with the Maltese government, which is embroiled in controversy over the murder of a journalist.
   Twitter—Chris Cardona, Courtland Sandover-Sly; BBC News

• Those looking to the privatization of New Brunswick’s foundering REC monopoly, Cannabis NB, shouldn’t imagine the same future for the SQDC. A spokesperson for finance minister Éric Girard said, “We have no intention of modifying the model of the SQDC. That is one we have always favoured.”
  TVA Nouvelles—In French (My Translation)

Quick Hits

1. A professor at Université du Québec, Trois-Rivières received a research award for her work growing THC and CBD inside microscopic algae.
   London Free Press
2. It isn’t illegal to consume cannabis edibles in front of children. It just feels that way.
   GrowthOp

• Statistics Canada found 811,000 Canadians are using legal or illicit REC for MED reasons without prescription.
  NewsWire
• The Régie de Logement, Quebec’s housing body, ruled a tenant does not need to have a prescription in order to be considered a MED user, with the right to smoke MED at home, even if landlords complain.
  Ici Radio-Canada—In French
• Health insurance–plan sponsors and members are both more open to MED than five years ago.
  Benefits Canada
• New research from UBC and the BC Centre on Substance Use found daily cannabis may be an effective alternative to opioids for chronic pain sufferers. The University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine is researching the effects of low doses of cannabinoids on their colony of teaching dogs, and will eventually invite pet owners to bring their dogs in to participate in the study.
  Globe and Mail, CTV News

Quick Hits

1. Analysts warned as long as access to capital markets remains closed to cannabis, some LP bankruptcies will follow.
   Bloomberg

• The 11,000-sq. ft space—rented at “far well above the ~$100 per square foot” rents paid by other West Edmonton Mall shops, so more than $1.1M monthly— is likely the only REC store inside a mall in Canada, for whatever that’s worth.
  Edmonton Sun, Twitter—David George-Cosh
• REC retail firm High Tide will manage the store.
  NewsWire
• Aurora CEO Terry Booth said there would be “carnage” across the sector over the next year should producers not lower their production costs.
  Bloomberg

• Couche Tard heavily lobbied the Quebec government to allow private REC retail in 2017, and CEO Alain Bouchard said the decision to sell REC through the SQDC “insults me to the greatest extent.”
  Montreal Gazette, Ici Radio-Canada—In French
• This summer, Couche Tard acquired a 50.1% stake in REC retail firm Fire and Flower, through which the company plans to make an offer to buy Cannabis NB.
  Globe and Mail
• New Brunswick’s REC sales dropped 40% in September. Possible factors include the month only having 30 days, and the previous month having been the last month of the summer boom.
  Financial Post

• 48North reported it had actually “cultivated enough cannabis […] to meet its initial 2019 projections,” but didn’t have access to enough licensed drying space.
  NewsWire
• Surprising some, the company plans to sell the harvest as flower rather than for extraction. They will sell it as outdoor brand Trail Mix at a budget price.

• The service will offer live tracking and guaranteed delivery windows.
• Only Torontonian consumers whose postal codes begin with “M” may participate for now.
• Meanwhile, lawyer Trina Fraser noted the legislation to bring in “click and collect” delivery will require the same person who made the order to pick up the REC products they reserved in store.
  Twitter—Trina Fraser

• The call for tender seeks services that can deliver all packages by no later than 10:00pm on the day they are ordered, but also seeks suppliers who can deliver within one hour of the order.
  La Presse—In French

Quick Hits

1. The Toronto Stock Exchange gave CannTrust a March 25, 2020 deadline to file a series of financial disclosures, otherwise the troubled LP will be delisted from the TSX.
   MJ Biz Daily
2. Ontario LP WeedMD will acquire Starseed Holdings, a union-owned LP that provides MED insurance to union members, for an undiscolosed amount. Majority Starseed owner The Labourers’ Pension Fund of Central and Eastern Canada accordingly subscribed to invest $25M via private placement into WeedMD.
   Globe and Mail, Twitter—Mark Rendell

• Most agree that in order for cannabeverages to succeed they’ll need to be in physical stores, though at last weekend’s Ottawa Cannabis and Hemp Expo, Indiva VP Jamie Riff went further in arguing he didn’t expect beverages could take off before consumption-sites are legalized.
  Twitter—GoBlueCDN

• Quebec will not allow the sale of vaporizers, while BC is taxing all vaporizers by 20%—including dry-herb models not connected with VAPI or the nicotine-related concerns that prompted the tax.
  Leafly, MJ Biz Daily
• Ottawa gossip-rag Frank reported Liberal-affiliated (turned Conservative-affiliated) political strategist Warren “Prince of Darkness” Kinsella and his Daisy Group lobbied Ottawa on behalf of cannabis vape company dosist until May, at which point the company switched to PR firm Navigator.
  Frank Ottawa

• Being government-owned didn’t prevent the Ontario Cannabis Store from breaching the Cannabis Act with a tweet advertising a Black Friday sale, which contained promotional language and mention of reduced prices. The OCS “consulted” with Health Canada and deleted the tweet.
  Globe and Mail, Twitter—MJ Biz Daily Canada, MJ Biz Daily

• Métis lawyer Jesse Donovan noted, “Indigenous cannabis laws are a legitimate expression of self-determination and can help to address poverty,” as he called for Canada and its provinces to harmonize cannabis law with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
  Twitter—Jesse Donovan

Quick Hits

1. A consultant warned any private buyer who acquires Cannabis NB to expect losses.
   CBC New Brunswick
2. During its period of license suspension, Bonify asked shareholders for short-term cash to keep the company from collapsing. Amazingly, Health Canada reinstated Bonify’s license in October.
   Winnipeg Free Press

• The company is concerned consumers won’t show as much interest as predicted in Legalization 2.0 products when they begin appearing next month.
• However, Canopy says it won’t cut jobs—in part because they believe the market is going to improve as soon as more Ontario stores open.
  CBC Ottawa

Quick Hits

1. Aurora and Canopy published statements distancing themselves from the Cannabis Council of Canada’s call for enforcement of unlicensed growers and sellers, calling instead for cannabis convictions expungements.
   Aurora, Canopy, MJ Biz Daily