The Canadian cannabis market is growing; it more than doubled in value between 2019 and 2020, increasing to $2.6 billion from $1.2 billion.
Canada exported 15.6 tons of dried cannabis flower and 7.3 kilolitres of cannabis oils and extracts in 2020 to countries including the U.K., Germany, Malta, Australia, and Argentina, but imported virtually none.
Domestic rules remain a burden, despite legalization, said Savone.
“There are all kinds of problems… in the regulations,” said Brad Poulos, a lecturer in the entrepreneurship and strategy department at Ryerson University who studies the cannabis business.
The legislation got hung up in the Senate two years ago, and the chamber remains less enthusiastic about legalization than the House, where Democratic lawmakers have a clear majority.
Proponents of the MORE Act think the existing anti-marijuana laws overburden the prison system, as they tend to result in the incarceration of people for possession of small quantities of marijuana.
Though recreational marijuana is already legal in 18 states, including Colorado, Alaska, and California, the stigma surrounding marijuana is still prevalent across the country, making it a tricky political issue.
Bigger issues such as inflation, and the Russia-Ukraine war are jostling for lawmakers’ attention, making legalization in the short term unlikely.
market is “a huge opportunity for everyone involved.” Michael Armstrong, a professor of operations research at Brock University who studies the cannabis industry, was less optimistic.
In the shorter term, there are smaller, potentially more attainable bills in the pipeline such as the SAFE Banking Act, which also has passed the House.
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