The Financial Post reports in its Saturday, Dec. 28, edition that the highs of 2018, brought on in part by Canada's legalization of recreational marijuana, gave way in 2019 to the harsher realities of business. The Post's Geoff Zochodne writes that investors developed a much more discerning eye when it came to pot stocks this year, and unprofitable producers were punished by the markets. Some of the biggest names in weed were hit the hardest: Canopy Growth declined more than 30 per cent (firing its long-time chief executive officer in the process), Hexo fell more than 50 per cent and Aurora Cannabis tumbled more than 60 per cent. One silver lining for firms was that their fates were not solely in their own hands. An agonizing retail rollout by Ontario's government, for example, curbed revenue growth in what should be the biggest provincial market. While many believe the carnage will continue, a loosening of Ontario's restrictive retail regime and the rollout of cannabis 2.0 products such as edibles offer a glimmer of hope to battered producers heading into 2020.