CannabisLink.ca - Top Stories

Top Stories (2026) - (1382 items)

(All links open in new tab)

Aug 21, 2026	Illinois proposes outdoor cannabis cultivation rules, excluding home growers llinois cannabis regulators propose allowing licensed cannabis companies to cultivate cannabis outdoors for the first time, a shift that reverses the state Department of Agriculture's previous interpretation that the law's requirement for an "enclosed, locked" facility prohibited outdoor growing. The department proposes that licensed growers and craft growers may cultivate outside next to existing facilities, provided the growing area is enclosed by a continuous chain-link fence at least 8 feet high, topped with razor wire or security wire, and screened from public view. Outdoor-grown cannabis would only be permitted for extraction purposes, producing concentrates for edibles, vapes and oils, not flower for smoking.
Aug 21, 2026	Cato Scholar Statement: Don’t Let Cannabis Data Spark a Moral Panic The reported rise in problematic cannabis use deserves attention, but it shouldn’t become the basis for a new moral panic. After alcohol prohibition ended, drinking increased for decades before declining as Americans developed knowledge and social norms around responsible use. Cannabis may be undergoing a similar adjustment. Indeed, a five-year Canadian study found that cannabis misuse declined after legalization, with frequent pre-legalization users reducing both their use and misuse. We should educate people about cannabis’s risks, not assume that today’s trends represent the long-run effects of legalization—or that prohibition is the answer.
Aug 21, 2026	Direct Delivery Growth Outpaces Central Stream in BC Cannabis Q1 2026 BC’s cannabis distributor wholesaled $152.2 million worth of cannabis in its first fiscal quarter of 2026, ending June 30, 2026, totalling 40,912,864 grams. This amounted to a 1% year-over-year increase in sales and a 3% increase in grams sold. The average price of all cannabis products declined 2% YOY to $3.72, while flower declined nearly 1% to $3.12. There were 530 cannabis stores in BC as of June 30, 2026, a 2% increase YOY. While store counts increased by 14 in the Lower Mainland, they declined by two on the Island and three in the interior.
Aug 21, 2026	Canadian LPs expand presence in European cannabis Canada-headquartered global medical cannabis company Tilray Brands is expanding cultivation across Canada and Europe, the company said Thursday. Tilray says it’s increased annual production capacity to about 275 metric tons, up from 210, to serve growing international and medical cannabis markets. The expanded output comes from both its Canadian facility, located in Quebec, and its EU-GMP-certified facility in Portugal. The increased cannabis production is intended for burgeoning international cannabis markets in Europe, Australia and other regulated markets.
Aug 21, 2026	Canadian Cannabis Retail Sales Hit New $500M+ Record in June 2026 Retail cannabis sales surpassed half a billion dollars in May and June of 2026, both setting new records, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada, which also include notable increases to previous estimates for May 2026. Cannabis stores across the country sold $517.8 million worth of cannabis in June 2026 and $510.4 million in May. Both months outperformed the previous high-water mark of $508.6 million in December, 2025.
Aug 21, 2026	Germany becomes Europe’s largest regulated cannabis market Germany has become Europe’s largest regulated cannabis market since partially liberalising the drug two years ago, as imports surge and conservative politicians warn of rising criminal activity and health risks.
Aug 21, 2026	Too Many People On Probation And Parole Still Can’t Use Medical Marijuana, Even Under Federal Rescheduling And State Legalization Medical marijuana is legal in 47 states, the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories. Yet for millions of Americans on probation or parole suffering from qualifying conditions like chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, that legalization is worth very little in practice. In many states, people on probation and parole are forbidden to use medical marijuana, even when legally recommended by a physician. It’s an oversight that state lawmakers need to address.
Aug 21, 2026	Marijuana while pregnant? A shocking number of Ohioans think it is OK With cannabis now legal in Ohio, ensuring people have accurate information about its impacts is more important than ever. Access is no longer the central issue. Education is. As cannabis becomes more widely used and socially accepted, Ohioans deserve clear, science-based information that helps them make informed decisions and understand the risks that can accompany its use. A May polling suggests that need is becoming more urgent, as cannabis use rises while perceptions of risk continue to decline, especially around youth use and use during pregnancy. Forty-one percent of Ohioans report currently using cannabis, up from 35% in 2024. More than two-thirds say cannabis has become more socially acceptable since legalization.
Aug 21, 2026	Curaleaf's Hostile Takeover Bid for Aurora Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg for Cannabis Consolidation. These 2 Stocks Could Be the Biggest Winners. Investors were very enthusiastic when cannabis stocks first started trading. It was, basically, a new industry, and the outlook for legal cannabis sales was strong. But, as is typical on Wall Street, a gold rush mentality took hold, and the market was flooded with marijuana stocks. While the cannabis sector has grown, individual company performance hasn't lived up to investors' lofty expectations.
Aug 21, 2026	Does off-duty cannabis use pose a safety risk for first responders? BERNALILLO COUNTY, N.M. — A New Mexico sheriff’s decision to remove county firefighters from a joint helicopter unit over an off-duty cannabis policy drew strong support from Police1 readers, many of whom said emergency aviation demands a higher safety standard.
Aug 20, 2026	Canadian Hemp Sector Pivots Back to Grain as Flower and Fibre Production Decline The amount of land being cultivated for hemp in Canada remained relatively stable in 2025, while farmers continued to move away from flower and back to growing it for its seed/grain. As first reported by Hemp Today and then confirmed by StratCann, there were a total of 15,380 hectares of hemp reported as planted in Canada in 2025, down only 2.5% from the previous year. The majority of those crops were for grain (84%), while flower accounted for just 3% and fibre for 6%. Cultivation for seed for planting was another 7%.
Aug 20, 2026	‘Marijuana Can No Longer Remain in Schedule I’: Inside the Government’s Final Case for Rescheduling Weed—and the Witnesses It Tore Apart The federal government’s closing argument for moving marijuana to Schedule III is in, and its lawyers did not hedge. “Marijuana can no longer remain in Schedule I,” the DEA’s attorneys wrote in a post-hearing brief filed August 17 with Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek C. Julius, asking the judge to “expeditiously recommend” the transfer. It is the government’s last word before Julius drafts the recommendation that will frame DEA Administrator Terrance “Terry” Cole‘s final decision. And it lands where this proceeding was always going to land: not on whether cannabis has medicinal value, but on which legal test gets to answer that question, and on whose testimony the judge should be allowed to believe.
Aug 20, 2026	Illinois may legalize outdoor cannabis cultivation in potential boost for craft growers Illinois cannabis regulators are proposing to allow outdoor cannabis cultivation for the first time. The proposal could boost small craft growers, supporters say.
Aug 20, 2026	The EMS Pulse: Medics weigh in on off-duty cannabis use Hundreds of comments reveal broad support for off-duty cannabis use among EMS professionals, while questions about impairment testing, liability and federal rules remain sticking points
Aug 20, 2026	Cannabis Store in BC Penalized for Sale to Minor A cannabis store in BC had to pay a $7,000 fine after an employee failed to check the ID of a 17-year-old minor agent. Trees Cannabis in Victoria, BC received the monetary penalty after it was found to have broken provincial rules by selling cannabis to a minor. While the retailer didn’t dispute the claim, it argued its own internal policies and training materials show sufficient training and systems. The judge ultimately disagreed, saying that there was little evidence that the employee had been properly trained, or that the training program and materials were sufficient. The age of access for cannabis products in British Columbia is 19.
Aug 20, 2026	The case for cannabis AI guardrails – and how to create an AI tool that works Cannabis-specific artificial intelligence tools are here and multiplying fast. Software vendors are pitching licensed operators on products that promise to optimize cultivation rooms, flag compliance errors in ad creative, audit inventory, replace budtenders with AI-powered kiosks and deliver instant business insights through conversational analytics. But according to Nick Afonsky, founder and CEO of Washington, DC-based IT consulting firm Palomar Group, the gap between what the tools promise and what they reliably deliver is wide.
Aug 20, 2026	Aurora Accuses Curaleaf of ‘Pressuring Shareholders’ as it Launches Official Takeover Bid Curaleaf Holdings has pushed ahead with its unexpected and unsolicited acquisition campaign of Aurora Cannabis and has now submitted an official bid for its Canadian rival. The cannabis giant formally launched its takeover bid on August 18, 2026, meaning Aurora’s shareholders must make a decision before the end of the year. Aurora’s board have already responded to the bid, urging shareholders to ‘take no action’ before it has made a formal recommendation, expected within 15 days.
Aug 20, 2026	Tennessee Ban on THCA Has Cost State $54M in Tax Revenue The Tennessee ban on THCA products has cost the state $54 million in tax revenues, WPLN News reports. Last year, state lawmakers approved the ban along with a new tax on intoxicating hemp products but has only collected 3% of what the new tax was projected to bring in.
Aug 20, 2026	Vermont's independent cannabis cultivators push for direct-to-consumer sales rights Small-scale cannabis cultivators in Vermont say the state's legal market structure is forcing them out of business, with many considering abandoning their licenses as wholesale prices fall and retail shelves fill with dispensary-grown product. Sara Farnsworth, who founded Full Circle Farms in Underhill in 2021 with her own money and runs it alongside multiple other jobs, describes the situation in stark terms. "I'm getting crushed by this industry," Farnsworth says. "It is crushing my soul. It is financially not viable."
Aug 20, 2026	What Can US States Learn From Each Other About Cannabis Legalization? More than a decade after Colorado and Washington became the first US states to legalize adult-use cannabis, the country has accumulated something it didn’t have when that experiment began: evidence. With states taking dramatically different approaches to taxation, licensing, testing, social equity and enforcement, policymakers can now look beyond predictions and examine what has actually worked. But identifying the state that is “doing legalization right” isn’t as straightforward as pointing to the largest market or the strongest sales numbers.

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70