Grow Life 420

A Saskatoon mom is launching a podcast aiming to reduce the stigma around parents consuming cannabis.

Natasha Albert says she faces harsh criticism for smoking medicinal marijuana – especially because she’s a mom.

“I get looked down by the general public. They think we’re lazy, unproductive, that we’re drug abusers,” said Albert, who smokes marijuana as a treatment for her depression.

The mother of two says smoking marijuana has actually made her a better parent.

– Read the entire article at CTV News.

Pat Newton has been experimenting with cannabis-infused cooking for more than 15 years.

The Toronto-based chef and founder of cannabis company Munchy Brothers has made avocado toast, mojito cocktails, cricket brownies, and an entire Thanksgiving turkey — all with added buzz. When he feels like a high in the morning, his go-to ‘wake-and-bake’ staple is scrambled eggs made with weed-infused butter, sometimes called “cannabutter.”

Since cannabinoids (the compounds of a cannabis plant) are fat-soluble, butter has long been one of the best ways to integrate cannabis onto your plate.

Cannabis-infused eating and drinking will soon become more accessible than ever as edible products start to hit the shelves across the country after October’s legalization. But many of the proposed products won’t be available for months yet. Newton’s Munchy Brothers creations — which include infused chocolate chips, salt, sugar and simple syrup for cocktails — likely won’t be available for purchase until late 2020.

– Read the entire article at CTV News.

A medical marijuana user was turned away from an Ottawa Loblaw store, after a cashier refused to sell her beer, because the cashier said the customer smelled like cannabis.

Christie Southward uses marijuana for back pain and anxiety, but she had not been using when she went shopping at the McArthur Avenue Loblaw this week.

“At first I thought he was joking and he was very serious”, Southward told CTV Ottawa.

“I was getting my groceries, and when it came to my alcohol, the cashier stopped and said he will not sell it to me because I smelled like pot”, she said.

– Read the entire article at CTV News.

Prices for recreational cannabis are going down as Alberta Cannabis competes for green dollars while trying to eradicate illegal stores.

The online retailer, which is operated by Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis, recently sent out an e-flyer to customers advertising “affordable cannabis!”

“Prices on all products have been reduced to better provide affordable, safe cannabis,” Alberta Cannabis said. “And we’ve reduced our shipping fees by half—pay only $4.95 to have your order shipped right to your door.”

– Read the entire article at CTV News.

There was a time just a few short months ago that buying into the world of legal cannabis seemed like a sure thing.

A major pot stock sell off continued on markets Monday, partially because consumers are less than enthused about legally available cannabis.

In theory, the black market should be under tremendous pressure now, by the new regulated and ultimately safe marijuana supply sanctioned by provincial governments in Canada.

– Read the entire article at CTV News.

A cannabis company has unveiled what it claims is the largest solar panel array in the Canadian pot business.

Alberta-based Freedom Cannabis has a 1.8-megawatt rooftop set-up made of 4,574 panels at its facility west of Edmonton.

The system was supplied by Alberta-based utilities company Enmax and will offset more than 1,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year, the company said.

“In the regulated cannabis industry we try to mimic Mother Nature by creating as natural an environment indoors as possible,” Troy Dezwart, co-founder of Freedom Cannabis, told CTV News Channel.

– Read the entire article at CTV News.

Cannabis use could be helping Canadians alleviate some of the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to new research from the BC Centre on Substance Use and University of British Columbia.

The study, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, found people with PTSD who were not using cannabis were “far more likely” to have suicidal thoughts and suffer from severe depression than self-proclaimed pot users, according to data taken from Statistics Canada’s 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey – Mental Health.

People who suffered trauma — including survivors of acute injury, violence, conflict and disasters — suffer at disproportionately higher rates of depression, suicide and substance abuse than the general population.

– Read the entire article at CTV News.

After a year of being able to purchase cannabis legally from age 18, Quebecers will now have to wait until they turn 21. The provincial government has passed a bill changing the legal age to use marijuana, a move critics say will only drive the black market.

The Coalition Avenir Quebec government adopted Bill 2, which raises the legal age for cannabis consumption from 18 to 21 as of Jan. 1, 2020. It will become the highest legal age for cannabis use in the country.

The legal cannabis use age is currently 19 across most provinces, with the exception of Alberta and Quebec. The legal age in Alberta is 18, the same as the drinking age there.

– Read the entire article at CTV News.

New regulations for cannabis edibles and topicals came into effect Thursday, with products expected to reach store shelves in December.

Here’s what consumers and parents need to know.

WHAT ARE EDIBLES?

“Edibles” is the umbrella term for cannabis-infused products, which can include beverages, cotton candy, dissolvable strips, gummy candies or baked goods. And topicals are products which can include lotions, balms, and oils absorbed through the skin for relief of pain or inflammation, according to Leafly.

– Read the entire article at CTV News.

Carl Bondi, an outdoor grower, spoke with CTV News about his step-by-step process of how to harvest a cannabis crop. Here are his suggestions for at-home growers:

Cannabis plants are ready to harvest when trichomes, the microscopic crystals that coat the leaves and buds of the plant, are opaque white. This comes before it turns into an amber colour and over-matures.

Cull

Cutting large branches off
Or cutting the plant down from the bottom

– Read the entire article at CTV News.

The Quebec government says it will appeal a decision invalidating parts of Quebec’s cannabis law that prohibited home cultivation.

On Sept. 3, Quebec Superior Court Justice Manon Lavoie ruled Quebec’s legislation infringed upon the jurisdiction of the federal government, which has sole responsibility for legislating on criminal matters.

The judge ruled unconstitutional the sections of the Quebec Cannabis Regulation Act prohibiting the possession and the cultivation for personal purposes of cannabis plants.

– Read the entire article at CTV News.