October 17th, 2018 will be remembered as one of the most historic days in Canadian history. This event happens three years after the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was sworn into office in which he promised to of legalizing recreational marijuana in the whole of Canada.
Canada is the only G-7 nation and the second country in the world first to legalize the sales of recreational cannabis after Uruguay. The cannabis market in Canada is forecasted to be a $22.6 billion industry and it’s expected to create at least 150,000 new jobs in the nationwide, ranging from production to sales.
The marijuana industry and various international governments will have their eyes on Canada at it try to regulate those driving under the influence of marijuana and ensure that adolescents are well cultured about the drug.
From the 17th of October 2018, flower, plants, seeds, and oil will be sold legally for all Canadian adults aged 19 and above, but provinces such as Quebec will allow adults aged 18 and above to consume marijuana. The maximum amount of marijuana which can be possessed by each Canadian is 30 grams.
Residents of Canada have highly celebrated the legalization of cannabis after more than a century of waiting. But on the other hand, marijuana activists and enthusiasts are protesting because the legalization is mostly centered on large corporations.
The Canadian hasn’t made plans to help grey market business owners switch to the new market or clearing the criminal records of Canadians who were charged with marijuana-related offenses. The federal government has declared that they will free people who have served their jail terms for possession of 30 grams or less. However, the federal government has not done anything concerning the records of Canadians involved in the grey market— including dispensary workers and owners.
The Canadian provinces also have to establish their rules relating to the drug. The ten provinces including British Columbia and Quebec, have implemented laws relating to the sale and consumption of cannabis.
In the meantime, Canadian cannabis entrepreneurs are benefiting from the legalization of the drug by quickly investing in cannabis markets worldwide. Aurora Cannabis Company is now highly considered as the world’s largest cannabis cultivator, and the company is already exporting cannabis to Germany, Italy, and Australia. Other licensed cannabis cultivators include PharmaCielo which has a large massive cultivation facility in Colombia; and Canadian pharmaceutical company Tilray which recently became the first company to get approved by the FDA to export cannabis to the U.S. for research purposes.
According to Cam Battley, Chief Corporate Officer of Aurora, the company has no plans of decreasing its growth and he believes that the United States won’t compete with licensed producers in Canada by the time cannabis is officially legal.
The Canadian province of Quebec and some local law enforcement in different provinces wanted to delay the legalization of marijuana in Canada in order to give authorities more time to establish regulations. But time is up for those officials because marijuana has already been legalized. Hopefully, this experiment will turn out to be successful.
