It’s a joint study that could provide groundbreaking research into the full benefits of medical cannabis.

Olds-based Sundial Growers Inc. announced this week that it would enter a collaborative research partnership with the Cumming School of Medicine’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary to conduct clinical studies of cannabis with an eye to future medical applications.

It’s an opportunity that researchers at one of the world’s foremost neurological research centres have not had before Canada loosened its laws around medical and recreational cannabis. The change will allow a steady supply of clean, high-quality marijuana to ensure research isn’t tainted by impurities or irregularities.

Keith Sharkey, director of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, said it’s clear there are many potential medical applications for cannabis but, given the lack of quality supply in the past, there’s not a deep track record of rigorous research into how it can be best used.

“High-quality cannabis is absolutely crucial to the integrity of the research,” he said.

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NELSONVILLE — As Hocking College prepares to start testing medical marijuana in its new laboratory, administrators plan to offer related courses to students interested in cannabis and other fields requiring laboratory research skills.

“We are getting a lot of inquiries about laboratory sciences in general, and specifically about cannabis laboratory technicians,” Hocking College President Betty Young said. “This is a new and emerging industry.”

The state recently issued a provisional license to the public two-year technical college in Athens County, about 65 miles southeast of Columbus, to test medical marijuana. Central State University near Dayton also has received a provisional license. The Ohio Department of Commerce will issue certificates of operation once inspectors have approved the labs, spokeswoman Stephanie Gostomski said.

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Canadian scientists have created what is being hailed as the first beer brewed from cannabis, as the U.S. neighbor is set for legalized recreational use of the plant in October.

Although other cannabis beers are already on the market, these are generally brewed with barley infused with cannabis oil.

“That’s not what we do. Our beer is brewed from the stalks, stem and roots of the cannabis plant,” Dooma Wendschuh of Province Brands, the Toronto startup behind the new brew, told The Guardian for an article published Sunday.

Wendschuh, who originally hails from Florida, moved to Toronto in 2016 and has been working since then to capitalize on Canada’s plans to legalize recreational marijuana, a 2015 campaign promise made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In June, legislation passed through both houses of Canada’s parliament legalizing recreational pot and laying out new regulations for how the plant can be grown, sold, bought and consumed.

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Oklahoma City — Oklahomans responded with an outcry when the state Department of Health proposed limiting THC in medical marijuana, but there's little clear evidence on whether a cap would hurt or help patients.

State Question 788, which passed in late June, legalized the sale and possession of marijuana plants and products without a limit on tetrahydrocannabinol, the chemical that produces euphoria in marijuana users. Regulations passed by the state Board of Health on July 10 created a cap at 12 percent THC in finished products and 20 percent in mature plants.

The board may have to change that regulation, however, after a letter from Attorney General Mike Hunter on Wednesday suggested board members may have overstepped their authority to regulate medical marijuana.

More than 500 of the 1,034 public comments the Health Department released on the proposed rules earlier this month objected to the THC limits.

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