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News on cannabis stocks and on developments in the industry haven’t let up in today’s volatile markets. Here are this week’s stories that we believe will mean most to you as a Canadian investor.

Total spending at U.S. cannabis dispensaries, for both medical and recreational use, reached $10.5 billion for 2018—up 22% from the previous year.

The U.S. numbers are courtesy of the BDS Analytics, an industry research firm, which pieced together data from individual states and municipalities. It pegged 2017 sales at $8.6 billion and $6.6 billion for 2016. Last year also represents the first time U.S. recreational cannabis sales outperformed medical pot sales.

BDS research also points to as many as 121,000 full-time U.S. workers for the industry, with another 50,000 employed by supporting businesses. The 2018 direct employment number is a jump from 2016, when the fledging cannabis industry employed about 89,500 full-time workers.

Still, growth in the next couple years—even without legalization of cannabis on the federal level—is expected to reach 291,500 full-time jobs by 2021. That climbs to 414,000 when indirect employment is added.

New analysis estimates that nearly 7% of Americans are already using cannabidiol (CBD)—a figure that suggests the future market for that “medicinal” cannabis compound could reach $16 billion by 2025.

Cowen & Co.’s January consumer survey of about 2,500 adults found 6.9% of respondents use CBD as a supplement.

“This initial response piqued our interest considerably, as it was much higher than we would have suspected,” writes analyst Vivien Azer.

That figure is also higher than the 4.2% who reported use of Juul Labs e-cigarette devices and a little less than half of the 19.6% who identified as tobacco users.

Cowen argues that CBD use will grow to 10% of U.S. adults, or 25 million consumers by 2025. Still, the compound’s medicinal effectiveness remains largely anecdotal, although researchers are now trying to determine its use as a treatment for everything from arthritis to insomnia. Clinical trials have already established it as a treatment for two rare forms of childhood epilepsy.

Some cannabis dispensary owners are now warning that the federal government’s plans for the edibles market may inadvertently fuel the black market.

While the consultation period on the proposed rules ends today, retailers like Jessika Villano have already expressed concerned about a number of elements of the proposed regulations. They include plans to limit servings to 10 milligrams of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. Each serving would, in fact, be individually wrapped.

That rule is stricter than regulations in Colorado or Washington state. Those more-established cannabis jurisdictions allow for multiple servings per package.

Villano and others worry that cannabis users taking the drug to combat pain, stress or nausea need ready access to higher doses—up to 650 milligrams per dose, she said.

“I feel that Health Canada is creating an environmental nightmare,” she said.

A former cannabis dispensary operator is now suing the Ontario government for $1.1 million in damages, citing last December’s decision to cap the initial number of cannabis retail licenses at 25.

“We were told something by the Ford government, and then there was this complete 180 degree turn from qualified applicants to random applicants,” said Chris James, owner of Cannabis & Coffee. “It was kind of ridiculous.”

In a statement of claim, Cannabis & Coffee Inc. alleges it had been “structuring its operations and incurring expenses” for the past year in anticipation of obtaining a retail license that would enable James to turn his coffee shop into a cannabis store.

Those expenses include the cost of purchasing the business, legal fees, rent, and salaries of employees over the past year.

Those plans were effectively cancelled by the new Doug Ford government’s announcement that it would use a lottery system to award only 25 retail licences for the province—at least initially. It cited a “severe supply shortage” of cannabis.

“The retail license lottery engaged in by the Defendants is arbitrary and thus unlawful, and has deprived the Plaintiff of a reasonable opportunity to acquire a license it has suffered tremendous financial harm preparing for the acquisition of,” the statement of claim reads.

Cannabis retailers in Saskatchewan are blaming the black market for sales they say simply don’t match the current levels of use.

According to Statistics Canada, 16% of Saskatchewan’s population say they use cannabis. That’s about the same as in Alberta and just above the national average of 15%.

Despite that relatively high level of declared use, Saskatchewan’s sales are significantly less than Alberta’s, even accounting for the population difference. While Saskatchewan recorded $2.5 million in sales between Oct. 17, 2018 and the end of the year, Alberta’s stores saw sales just under $33 million. Even Prince Edward Island, with a population of 150,000 people, generated over $3 million in cannabis sales.

“I think they’re still purchasing, whether it’s the black market or they’ve got to be coming from somewhere because our sales are definitely too low for the amount of consumption there is in Saskatchewan,” said Regina dispensary owner Allen Kilback.

While the province’s cannabis market grappled with supply shortages in the months following legalization, Regina police say they’ve seen little change in the illegal cannabis market.