Cannabis and Canada

A few days back, Justin Trudeau announced that he was stepping down from his role as leader of the Liberal party and, consequently, as the Prime Minister of Canada. His decision was met with what appears to be more cheer than regret. Justin Trudeau was the Prime Minister of Canada for about a decade or so. The announcement of his resignation was met with articles in the Indian media that spoke about his years in office. I was surprised to see even the normally unbiased Deccan Herald writing mostly about Trudeau's friction with the Indian government over the killing of a supposed Khalistani militant who was now a citizen of Canada. Most of the public in India and the media seem to have developed a strong dislike over Trudeau accusing the Indian government of being involved in the incident. This is strange because any strong leader will naturally object to governments of foreign nations killing its citizens, and that too within the country that has a fundamental duty to protect its citizens. It is quite clearly a case of overreach by the Indian government that has been feeding itself with glorified Bollywood movies of undercover agents finishing off the enemy in foreign countries and in the process pumping up the patriotism of the people so as to distract public attention from the complete demolition of democracy and human rights in India, especially for the minorities and the Dalits by the dominant upper class and caste ruling elites. India sees itself as a global master of surgical strikes a la the US and Israel - two countries that blatantly violate foreign sovereignty, as can be seen in the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan and top Iranian military officials in Teheran.

Justin Trudeau, with his handsome looks and charisma, has a cult following the world over. But he also has many people who hate him, and not just because of his good looks or charm. Among his haters are not only senile imbecile psychopaths like Narendra Modi and Donald Trump, but also megalomaniacs like Elon Musk. In fact, the ruling elite upper classes and castes of the world would have mostly celebrated his decision to step down. Why is this animosity towards an able leader who led a country admirably for many years? For one thing, it is the change in public perception of Canada, from being projected as a backyard of the US, filled with naive countryfolk, to one of Canada as a much sought after destination for the younger generations. The rise of Canada under Justin Trudeau is possibly best exemplified by the rise of the Canadian soccer team. It has players these days who are stars in teams like Bayern Munich. The Canadian soccer team performed exceptionally well in the last FIFA World Cup and has emerged as a force to be reckoned with in world football. But more than all this, the one thing that probably rankles the most for the world's elites is the fact that Justin Trudeau did the greatest thing that any leader can dare to do in today's world. He went against the tide and legalized cannabis for adult recreational use in 2018. Canada was the second nation to legalize cannabis for adult use, after Uruguay who legalized it in 2014. The difference between Canada and Uruguay is however that Canada is a G7 nation, part of the wealthy western nations that have acquired their wealth through the plundering of other nations and vastly increased their wealth through the growth of the unsustainable industries that have brought the world to the brink of human-induced climate disaster - the petrochemical industry, the synthetic pharmaceutical industry, the medical industry, the alcohol industry, the tobacco industry, the chemical pesticide and fertilizer industry, the opium industry, the construction industry, the petrochemical-based-non-biodegradable plastic industry, the synthetic fabrics industry, the black market for all things illegal, etc.

When Justin Trudeau legalized cannabis for adult recreational use in 2018, I do not think even he realized the significance of what he was doing. His reasons for legalizing cannabis were primarily: to shrink the black market for it in Canada into which huge amounts of revenue was being lost, to protect the youth and to combat the ever-increasing menace of opioid overdoses. UNODC, in its World Drug Report 2020, stated that 'The objectives of the current cannabis legislation in Canada are to keep cannabis away from young people (under 18 years of age), to prevent criminals from profiting from the distribution and sale of cannabis and to safeguard public health and safety by allowing adults (aged 18 and older) legal access to cannabis. Under the constitutional division of powers in Canada, the federal Government and provincial governments have different responsibilities. As the provinces historically developed their own systems to regulate the sale of alcohol, a similar approach has been applied to regulate the non-medical use of cannabis products.' The Canadian government announced that 'On October 17, 2018, the Cannabis Act will come into force, marking a significant milestone in the Government of Canada’s commitment to legalizing and strictly regulating cannabis to keep it out of the hands of children and to keep profits away from criminals and organized crime. Public education is an important element of the Government’s public health approach to legalizing and regulating cannabis'. What Trudeau did by legalizing cannabis was to go against the 150 years of propaganda that the ruling elites all over the world had built against it so as to peddle their opium, alcohol, synthetic drugs and tobacco. The ruling elites had even jointly signed a treaty - the 1961 Single Convention Treaty on Narcotic Drugs - to ensure that no nation would legalize cannabis without facing stiff opposition from the ruling upper classes. For the last 63 years, every nation of the world has been referring to this treaty - in which cannabis was deliberately included without any scientific justification - as the reason why they cannot legalize cannabis. International obligations, they call it. The Treaty is what keeps the elite ruling upper classes and castes of every single country in the world in firm control over the lower classes and castes - who form the working classes and the poorest of the poor - under tight control so that they are completely dependent on the synthetic pharmaceutical drugs, alcohol, opium and tobacco for their well-being, thus weakening these classes physically and mentally and ensuring that they remain enslaved to the ruling elites, working uncomplainingly in the industries that destroy the earth. What Justin Trudeau effectively did was give the waking Siva - the god of the outcasts and the untouchables - a pull of his beloved ganja...

So, it is no surprise that this article on Cannabis and Canada is going to be a bit longer than most others. Especially given that there is almost no news coverage, in India at least, regarding Justin Trudeau's momentous decision to legalize cannabis in Canada in 2018. I suspect it is the same the world over where the media is completely controlled by the ruling elites. It has been six years since Canada gave the numbing shock to the world's elites. Much has happened in Canada, and the world, since then. In Canada, the legalization of cannabis has led to some of the most profound consequences, consequences that the world's ruling elites do not want anybody to hear about and talk about. No, the country has not fallen apart with people running around raping and killing everything that they see as a result of this. By the end of 2020, in the space of just two years, the legal cannabis market had overtaken the cannabis black market in terms of cannabis sales, thus meeting one of the goals set by the country for legalization. Cannabis revenue crossed Canadian $2 billion annually. Giant Canadian cannabis companies have emerged that straddle multiple countries and are already raking in multi-million-dollar revenues. The demand for cannabis is so high internally that supply struggles to meet demand. Canadian cannabis companies are scouting the globe looking for sources of cannabis that they can use back home or process and export to other countries, especially in Europe and Oceania. Canadian cannabis research is among the best in the world, and we see the vast increase in cannabis related research originating from Canada. A plethora of synthetic pharmaceutical prescription medications are being replaced by cannabis, especially among the elderly. There is increasing use of cannabis for pain management to replace addictive opioids. There is a decline in teenage usage rates of cannabis since legalization and strict enforcement of non-sale of cannabis to minors at retail outlets and so on...You could say that, in a way, Canada is taking over the world through cannabis.

Canada became the second country in the world after Uruguay to legalize recreational use of cannabis on October 17th, 2018. With legalization, cannabis is now available for retail purchase by adults aged above 18 through a rapidly growing number of retail outlets. It is also available through online purchase in many other places where retail outlets are yet to open. Cannabis retail is controlled by the government which oversees the entire process. Yet, it was not like this not too long ago. Way back in the 1930s Canada was as eager, if not more, than the United States to prohibit cannabis. Up to that point cannabis had been a normal part of the lives of indigenous Native American communities in Canada. Possibly the same factors that drove the US prohibition played out here i.e. wealthy emerging tobacco, alcohol, paper and pharmaceutical businesses perceiving a threat from cannabis. The fear among white Canadians that their woman may be seduced by the cannabis smoking Native Indians may not have been as much as that of Americans regarding Blacks and Mexicans but the racial discrimination against the indigenous communities was quite obviously there. Whatever the reasons, cannabis was included in the Canadian list of banned substances by the policy makers at that time. Canada was one of the first nations to officially prohibit cannabis in the 1923s, even before the US introduced the 1937 Marihuana Act prohibiting cannabis. A Canadian governmental blog says 'In 1923, Parliament decided to add marijuana to the schedule of the Opium and Narcotic Control Act, which also included opium, morphine, cocaine and eucaine at the time. Historians have been unable to find a record of any kind of parliamentary debate on the issue, and it seems no explanation was given as for why it was being criminalized.' For the government and the white ruling elites at that time, cannabis prohibition was a way to further suppress and control the lower classes, working classes, indigenous communities, blacks and other racial minorities. As was the case with Britain when it prohibited cannabis in the land of ganja, India, in the 19th century, the reasons given for banning cannabis were the same. Myths that had already been created and implemented successfully by the British - working in conjunction with the Indian ruling upper class and caste elites - were leveraged to prohibit cannabis. These myths included: cannabis causes insanity; cannabis users were criminals; cannabis was used by the lowest classes and castes; cannabis was highly addictive and harmful; cannabis was more harmful than opium, alcohol or tobacco; cannabis legalization will destroy the youth; and so on. The resulting prohibition saw Canada suffer huge damage in public health through the opioid and fentanyl epidemics that are still raging since the last few decades. Methamphetamine from the US, Mexico, China and local home labs started causing widespread damage. The abuse of pharmaceutical drugs reached new heights.

After decades of prohibition, during which time many individuals - almost entirely from the lower classes, indigenous communities and racial minorities - were incarcerated, lost jobs, etc., the underground cannabis movement started emerging. Bold individuals continued growing the plant, distributing its seeds and campaigning for its legalization while native American communities continued using it. It was extensively used for medical and recreational purposes till eventually sufficient momentum had built up in terms of public opinion. When Justin Trudeau stood for elections on the promise of cannabis legalization as one of his goals, many people voted for him. He and his party made good their promise. After six years of legalization, things are looking so normal that none of the opposition parties are likely to go back on legalization if they come to power.

The beauty of the Canadian legalization of recreational cannabis is that it is a national level policy, uniform across all Canadian provinces, unlike the US model where each state has its own individual set of cannabis regulations leading to a chaotic, patchwork model of legalization. The Canadian federal government manages licensing and setting production standards while it has left regulatory control to the provinces. Initially, edibles and concentrates were kept out of the market but they have been introduced subsequently. Permission for smoking of cannabis is generally allowed at all places where tobacco smoking is permitted. Global News reported that 'Under previous consumption rules, those over 19 would have only been able to smoke cannabis in a private Ontario residence when pot becomes legal Oct. 17. The proposed legislation eases the regulations to allow marijuana to be smoked in the same places as cigarettes.' Health Canada has federal oversight over the cannabis industry and reports periodically on the different aspects of it. This is providing valuable information and data to the numerous other countries that are watching how legalization progresses. The emerging data has been sufficient to convince South Africa and Germany to legalize cannabis for recreational use in April 2024. The naysayers from most other nations are still stuck to their prejudice and their desire to serve upper class and caste elites and the industries that destroy the earth. Canada through its legalization of cannabis, along with Uruguay, has become a shining example to the rest of the world that standing up for what it believes is right is more important than being affiliated to gangs and groups that have no priorities other than the fulfillment of their own insatiable political and economic greed. 

In fact, the legalization in Canada has given it early mover advantages, so much so that many American cannabis companies fear they will be taken over by Canadian businessmen. This sort of insecurity has fueled paranoia at the US-Canadian borders with the US side being particularly tight-assed about their dealings with cannabis. Ironically, the US has for decades poked fun in various ways at Canada for being 'rural' but today the policies of the Canadian government have shown the world how balanced and progressive its thinking is compared to the ultra-conservative, outdated and coercive thinking of the federal government of the United States that denies the wisdom of the 24 US states (at the time of writing) that have legalized cannabis for recreational use and the majority of the people who want cannabis legalized at the federal level. One of the great benefits for Canada, because it has been an early starter, is that it is one of the top cannabis exporting nations in the world today, despite having a climate that is hardly conducive for large scale cannabis cultivation outdoors. Canada has addressed this challenge by outsourcing some of its cultivation to nations like Uruguay who have only been happy to oblige. Countries who import cannabis from Canada, such as Germany, France, Denmark and Australia, say that it is for medical use, i.e. to cater to the needs of the elite classes of these countries. As the class of cannabis users among the elites in Canada who would like to be known as 'medical users' - unlike the Indians, Blacks and other non-white trash who use cannabis to get high - have now shifted to the adult recreational retail outlets to procure their cannabis, since it is cheaper and carries less regulations, the companies that positioned themselves as suppliers of medical cannabis suddenly find themselves holding stock that they cannot sell at the prices that they demand. Hence, these companies have turned to the international market to sell their produce to elites in other nations who want cannabis for 'medical use'. MJBizDaily reports that 'Canadian exports of medical cannabis hit an all-time high last year as the county’s licensed producers continue to diversify from the competitive local market in favor of pursuing top-line opportunities overseas. In the 2023-24 fiscal year, Canada exported roughly 218 million Canadian dollars ($189 million) worth of medical marijuana products for commercial and scientific use, MJBizDaily has learned. That’s an increase of more than 36% from the previous year’s exports of CA$160 million.' On the same subject, MJBizDaily also reported that 'Amid declining medical cannabis sales in Canada’s domestic market and cutthroat competition in the adult-use industry, some licensed producers are increasingly looking to overseas markets for a financial lifeline. Exports continued to surge in the 2022-23 fiscal year, with Canada shipping medical cannabis products worth 160 million Canadian dollars ($118 million) overseas, a 50% increase over 2021-22’s CA$107 million, according to figures shared by Health Canada with MJBizDaily. David Hyde, CEO of Hyde Advisory & Investments in Toronto, believes Canada will have a leg up over competing export countries for a few more years. “For the next two or three years, at least, we’re going to see continually increasing medical numbers (exports),” he said in a phone interview. The brisk export growth comes as domestic sales of medical cannabis continue to contract.' MJBizDaily reported in September 2021 that 'Aurora was among companies from Australia, Canada, Israel and the United Kingdom chosen to provide products, in partnership with French pharmaceutical distributors, for up to 3,000 patients. The medical marijuana is being supplied by participating companies at their own cost, and neither the government nor patients will have to pay for it. “The first prescriptions of dried medical cannabis as part of the French pilot program are a significant step toward providing access to patients and will support the destigmatization of medical cannabis in France,” Aurora CEO Miguel Martin said in a statement.' In 2019, MJBizDaily reported on Canada's cannabis oil exports stating that 'Australia was the top destination, with roughly 3,700 liters (977 gallons) shipped there in 2019. Germany and Denmark were second and third, with 790 liters and 336 liters, respectively. Those top three markets accounted for 90% of all exported oil. The remaining 546 liters were shipped to 10 or more countries. Overall, 5,372.3 liters of cannabis oil products were exported for medical and scientific use in 2019.  That’s almost five times more than the 920 liters exported from Canada in 2018. Roughly 435 liters left Canada via federal approval in 2017.' MJBizDaily also reported in 2019 that 'Germany was the main destination for Canada’s dried cannabis. Just over 94% of the 3,740.232 kilograms of dried product exported from Canada last year went to the European Union country. Germany imported roughly 6,714 kilograms of medical cannabis flower in 2019 from all destinations – both for pharmacy dispensing and redistribution in the EU – meaning Canada provided 52% of Germany’s imported flower. Most of the rest came from the Netherlands.'

In keeping with the primary goal of shrinking the black market for cannabis and funneling cannabis sales revenue into the white market to benefit the economy, retail sales have been steadily growing year on year since legalization. In the very first year of cannabis legalization, legal cannabis made significant inroads into the black market. Science Direct reported that 'Highlights: Legal recreational market share rose from 8% to 24% over the first 12 months; Legal sales were limited by shortages of retailers and dry cannabis, but not oils; Provincially, legal recreational shares in month 12 ranged from 13% to 70%; Legal sales can succeed if given sufficient supplies, stores, and time'. It is quite obvious that when society perceives something as good for it but cannot access it through the legal market, it will seek the same in the black market.  In just two years after the legalization of cannabis in Canada, MJBizDaily reported that 'Estimated expenditures on unlicensed adult-use cannabis fell to 785 million Canadian dollars ($600 million) in the latest quarter, almost half what they were before Canada legalized marijuana in late 2018. The Statistics Canada data shows that spending on recreational cannabis products via regulated channels reached CA$648 million in the same period. Estimated expenditures on cannabis products for medical use approached CA$157 million, according to the data. The underground market is the biggest competitor for legal cannabis businesses.' At around the same time, Bloomberg reported that 'Canadian household spending on legal cannabis in the second quarter of the year outpaced the illicit market for the first time, marking a significant milestone for the licensed pot industry. Statistics Canada said Friday that Canadian household spending on recreational cannabis reached $648 million in the second quarter of 2020, an increase of 74 per cent from the same period last year. Meanwhile, spending on medical cannabis was flat at $155 million in the second quarter, StatsCan said. Canadian household spending on illicit cannabis fell to a new low of $784 million in the second quarter, StatsCan added. Taken together, the legal cannabis market now accounts for 50.5 per cent of all pot-related spending in Canada.'  NORML reported in May 2021 that 'In 2020, nearly 70 percent of cannabis consumers who participated in the study reported obtaining cannabis from a legal source, up from 47 percent in 2019. (Because the survey included respondents ages 15 and older, some subjects would be unable to obtain cannabis from any legal sources – which require users to be at least 18 years of age.) “One of the goals of legalization was the elimination (or substantial reduction) of the cannabis black (illegal) market and consequently keeping profits from criminals and organized crime,” the author wrote. “According to this study, there is some evidence that this may be working.”' MJBizDaily reported in May 2021 that 'The gap between Canada’s legal and illicit cannabis markets continues to widen, the latest Statistics Canada data suggests. Household spending on adult-use cannabis products in regulated channels grew to 918 million Canadian dollars ($800 million) in the final quarter of 2020, or CA$204 million more than the estimated amount spent on illicit cannabis in the same period. Spending on legal recreational cannabis overtook illegal transactions for the first time in the previous quarter, when regulated expenditures outpaced approximate illicit sales by CA$59 million.' NORML reported in February 2023 that “Legal sourcing of cannabis was greater in 2021 than 2020 for all ten cannabis products [surveyed]. In 2021, the percentage of consumers sourcing all their products legally in the past 12 months ranged from 49 percent of solid concentrate consumers in 2021 to 82 percent of cannabis drink consumers,” investigators reported. “Transitioning consumers of all cannabis products into the regulated market is important for public health and safety. Future studies should continue to examine cannabis product sourcing in Canada over time, as well as ways to displace the illegal market for all cannabis products without also promoting the use of high-potency cannabis products.'  Reporting further on the continuous shift from the black market to the white for cannabis consumers, MJBizDaily reported that around 69% of consumers always procured their cannabis from the legal market in 2023 as against 48% in 2022, when it stated that 'Canada’s federally regulated marijuana industry captured more illicit-market share than ever in 2023, the government’s annual Canadian Cannabis Survey suggests. Illicit-market capture is a crucial metric for legal cannabis businesses as it represents their actual total addressable market (TAM), or the revenue opportunity available for businesses operating on the legal side of the industry. Outside the United States – where marijuana is legal in many states but is still federally illegal – underground cannabis sales are often included in TAM models. But they shouldn’t be, since those sales aren’t available to legal businesses. The latest version of the survey asked Canadians who consumed cannabis in the past 12 months where they obtained their products from: 69% reported they “always” obtained their marijuana products from a legal or licensed source. That’s a huge increase from the 48% who reported “always” obtaining their cannabis from legal sources in 2022.'

In 2020, the Canadian Tax Department reported that 'Total tax revenue reported by the cannabis industry is $306.7 million for 3rd Quarter returns due by November 2, 2020. This does not include tax revenue collected by each jurisdiction. Previously reported revenue for 2nd Quarter 2020 returns was revised to $260.2 million, which included $135.0 million in cannabis excise tax, $30.7 million in cultivation tax, and $94.5 million in sales tax. Revisions to quarterly data are the result of amended and late returns, and other tax return adjustments. Cannabis tax revenue data is available on the CDTFA Open Data Portal. Since January 2018, total program revenue to date is $1.81 billion, which includes $906.4 million in cannabis excise tax, $223.3 million in cultivation tax, and $682.9 million in sales tax.'  In February 2021, MJBizDaily reported that 'Canadian sales of legal recreational cannabis totaled 2.6 billion Canadian dollars ($2.08 billion) in 2020, as December sales increased from a relatively sluggish November. Licensed marijuana retailers across the country sold CA$298.4 million worth of cannabis in December, up 14.3% from November, according to new retail trade data released Friday by national data agency Statistics Canada. Canada’s 2020 total represents a 120% increase over 2019 cannabis sales, which were valued at CA $1.2 billion.'  In June 2021, MJBizDaily reported that 'Quebec’s government-run cannabis store operator, the Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC), generated net income of 66.5 million Canadian dollars ($55 million) in its recently concluded fiscal year, according to its annual report. The SQDC reported annual sales CA$537 million for the 2020-21 fiscal year, a substantial increase over the previous year’s CA$ $311.6 million in sales. The SQDC attributed the increased revenue to its expanding network of stores, which grew by 25 points of sale last year to 66 outlets.' MJBizDaily further reported in June 2021 that 'April’s online and in-store sales of regulated cannabis amounted to 309.7 million Canadian dollars ($251 million), 3.8% higher than March’s CA$298.3 million, according to Statistics Canada’s latest figures. British Columbia led provinces with a gain of CA$5.4 million, or 13%, over the previous month. Sales in Vancouver, the biggest city in B.C., grew a whopping 30% month–on-month to CA$16.7 million in April, a major improvement for a city which has struggled to convert consumer spending to the regulated market.'  MJBizDaily reported in August 2021 that 'Retail sales of legal adult-use cannabis in Canada increased to nearly 318.7 million Canadian dollars ($246.9 million) in June, growing more than 1.7% from the previous record set in May. The seasonally unadjusted national retail sales figure released Friday by Statistics Canada represents a fourth consecutive month of growth for Canada’s regulated cannabis sector, despite the fact June has one fewer day than May. Statistics Canada’s sales total for May was revised downward slightly to CA$313.2 million. Year-over-year, June recreational cannabis sales in Canada increased by 58.5%.'  MJBizDaily reported in March 2023 that 'According to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), the federal government assessed approximately CA$862.3 million in total duty on cannabis products between the 2018-19 and 2020-21 fiscal years, most of which has been shared with provinces and territories. The CRA has yet to publish comparable figures for the 2021-22 financial year. But the most recent public accounts, which detail the government’s expenses and revenues, show the federal government received revenue from the cannabis levy worth CA$160.2 million that year, bringing total duty since 2018 to a minimum of CA$1.02 billion.'  The black market now only accounts for 40% of overall cannabis sales in Canada while sales revenue stood at around $ 3.8 billion USD in 2023. MJBizDaily reports that 'Canadian recreational cannabis sales were worth 5.07 billion Canadian dollars ($3.8 billion) in 2023, an increase of 12.2% compared to 2022, according to government retail sales data released Thursday. The year-over-year retail trend marks a slowing growth rate for Canadian cannabis sales as the market matures, more than five years after adult-use legalization in October 2018. The vast majority of growth in legal cannabis sales comes from consumers transitioning from the illicit market, Poulos said. Going into 2024, the illicit market still controls roughly 40% of cannabis sales in Canada, he estimates.' All this is money that flows into the legal economy where it can be put to the best use that benefits the nation at large rather than money flowing into the hands of criminal networks that indulge in extortion, arms trade, human and wildlife trafficking, cybercrimes, etc. This is precious revenue that goes into key areas like education, public health and environmental protection, revenue that would have been lost to the legal market with cannabis prohibition. Since 2020, the tax revenues earned by the Canadian government have only increased significantly.

It is the non-availability of cannabis that has caused the black market for it to rise to such humongous proportions benefitting only the nexus of politician-criminal-law enforcement and nobody else. Thus, one of the best ways to shrink the black market is to have more legal sources available in close proximity to the buyer. This is one of the strategies employed by the Canadian government which constantly monitors the demand for cannabis in various regions and the number of retail outlets available in these regions to meet demand. MJBizDaily reports that 'A recent study of Canadian stores shows that proximity might be a key to that equation. The research found that people who lived less than about 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) from the closest regulated marijuana retailer were more likely to source cannabis from a legal store. Experts agree that cannabis retailers should take into account store location and density during their planning.'  MJBizDaily reported that 'By April 20 Ontario had 613 stores, surpassing Alberta to have the most marijuana outlets of any Canadian province. As of last week, that number had grown to 800 authorized retailers open for business, according to OCS. The average distance from consumers’ homes to a licensed marijuana store decreased from 9.5 kilometers (5.9 miles) in the third quarter of OCS’ fiscal year to 6.5 kilometers at the end of March, OCS reported.' In September 2021, MJBizDaily reported that 'The Canadian province of Ontario, the country’s biggest market with a population of nearly 14.8 million people, now has at least 1,000 licensed cannabis stores. The government-owned Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS), the monopoly wholesaler to those stores, said in a recent blog post that the 1,000th cannabis retailer was 6 of Spade, a Black-owned business that opened Aug. 20 in Toronto. The 1,000-store milestone marks a period of rapid market growth in the Ontario market, which initially suffered from a slow cannabis retail rollout that led to an early deficiency in legal retail outlets and correspondingly low sales. Ontario’s store count finally surpassed the smaller province of Alberta this past April.' The fake pandemic Covid saw cannabis retail in Canada and the US adopt innovative delivery mechanisms to enable the product to reach the customer. MJBizDaily reported in October 2021 that 'Ontario plans to permanently enable cannabis stores to offer delivery and curbside-pickup services, the Canadian province announced Thursday, a move that likely would provide a major boost for many of the province’s pandemic-hit, adult-use marijuana retailers. Stores in Canada’s largest cannabis market were first temporarily granted the ability to offer delivery in April 2020 after the pandemic forced the province to shut down most retailers to curb the spread of COVID-19. Since then, the province subsequently extended the temporary provision.' The integration of cannabis retail with traditional retail models is also another indicator of the normalization of cannabis that is happening in Canada. MJBizDaily reported in October 2021 that 'Major free-standing shopping malls in Ontario, Canada, are throwing open their doors to cannabis stores, signaling the evolution of marijuana retail in the nation beyond more typical street-facing and strip-mall locations. The impending growth in cannabis store mall openings in Canada’s biggest provincial cannabis market could bring opportunities for those retailers to: Reach untapped customer demographics and build brand awareness; Take advantage of high customer foot traffic; Make regular customers out of mall employees.' In 2020, while Toronto led Canada in nominal cannabis sales, Alberta was the leader in per person sales. MJBizDaily reported that 'While Toronto is the leader in Canada when it comes to nominal cannabis sales, the nation’s largest city by population is nowhere near the top when it comes to per-person spending on recreational marijuana. Torontonians spent CA$50.95 per person on legal cannabis products last year on average, ahead of Montreal, Gatineau, Quebec, and last-place Vancouver, British Columbia. Edmonton and Calgary in Alberta were the leaders with per-person cannabis spending totaling CA $128.85 and CA$99.61, respectively. Winnipeg, Manitoba, was third at CA$90.26 per person.'

Affordability is another key factor, besides accessibility, that plays a role in determining whether a consumer purchases cannabis from the legal or the illegal market. In many legal markets, consumers still go to the black market because they say that cannabis is cheaper there. Pricing legal cannabis lower than the black market is one of the ways, besides easy access, that the Canadian government is using to switch people over to the legal market. Initially, the price of cannabis was cheaper in the black market than in the legal market, owing to the fluctuations in demand and supply in the legal market. But over time this disparity has been addressed. MJBizDaily reported in Ontario in 2020 that 'Ontario’s government-operated Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) claims it is undercutting illicit marijuana prices with an average price of 7.05 Canadian dollars ($5.30) per gram of dried flower, taxes included, during its first fiscal quarter. In comparison, the average price for a gram of marijuana from illicit mail-order dispensaries was CA$7.98, the OCS said in a new quarterly report covering April, May and June.' 

Legalization of cannabis for recreational uses shrinks not just the black market for cannabis, but also the medical market for it. MJBizDaily reported in February 2021 that 'Spending on nonmedical cannabis products in the third quarter of last year reached 824 million Canadian dollars ($644 million), according to the updated figures. Unlicensed nonmedical sales, by comparison, were estimated to be CA$754 million in the same period. George Smitherman, CEO of industry group Cannabis Council of Canada, said the numbers are encouraging because there is more growth to come. “It illustrates the success of one of the policy goals, which is bringing (cannabis) sales into the legal framework,” he said. The underground market is in retreat.' Both the black market for cannabis and the medical market for cannabis only benefit the elites who can access and afford both these markets without fear of law enforcement that the poorer marginalized sections of society have to contend with. In this sense, the complete legalization of cannabis along with home growing, is a restoration of the balance that ensures that cannabis reaches the sections of society that need it the most. This is why the medical cannabis industry joins hands with the black market, the synthetic pharmaceutical industry and the medical industry to oppose complete legalization as they will lose their hold over the elites that they profit from. MJBizDaily reported in October 2021 that 'Canadian spending on medical cannabis fell to a five-year low in the first half of 2021, according to new data from Statistics Canada, as recreational marijuana reached record sales and more patients arranged to grow their own plants. Patients in Canada spent 242 million Canadian dollars ($197 million) on medical cannabis in the first half of this year, down from CA$294 million in the second half of 2020 and 23% lower than the record CA$316 million spent in the final six months of 2017, the new figures show.' Science Direct reported in October 2021 that 'Abstract: This paper analyzes the historical stock returns of 10 medicinal cannabis companies for the period between 2015 and 2020, when the legalization of recreational cannabis was debated in Canada. The results of our analysis indicate that the industry was responsive to the announcements of regulatory change that led towards legalization. Furthermore, we compare the performance of cannabis companies to that of similar businesses. The results of the comparative analysis indicate that the performance of the matched pairs is largely correlated over time. Additionally, the pre-legalization performance of cannabis companies was better than their post-legalization performance. Given that cannabis companies did not outperform their matched pair, we can confirm that legalization did not have a significantly positive effect on the industry.'

Of all the myths that have been created to prohibit cannabis, the myth that has had the most pervasive and impactful effect on justifying cannabis prohibition in every nation of the world is the myth that cannabis causes insanity. This myth was created on the basis of erroneous data that emerged from the lunatic asylums of India in the 19th century. Whether these errors were deliberate or accidental remains up for debate. But the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission of 1894-95, set up by the British colonial rulers of India to understand India's cannabis culture and bring about prohibition, found that this link between cannabis and insanity was false and erroneous. The Hemp Commission stated, in its reports, that "Over and over again the statistics of Indian asylums have been referred to in official documents or scientific treatises not only in this country, but also in other countries where the use of these drugs has demanded attention. Other alleged effects of the drugs have attracted but little attention compared with their alleged connection with insanity." But the damage had already been done. This myth has been used repeatedly to ban cannabis and, to this day, is one of the key arguments of anti-cannabis prohibitionists. It is no surprise then that there is constant research today investigating the connection between cannabis and mental illness. Even though today's scientific research has provided overwhelming evidence showing that there is no clear link between cannabis and insanity, corroborating the findings of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission in 1895, the search for a link continues, including in Canada, for possible ammunition to use against cannabis legalization. High Times reports that 'Amidst the growing cannabis reform across the West, there have been growing conversations surrounding cannabis-induced psychosis, suggesting that regular cannabis use and highly concentrated products may exacerbate mental health symptoms as access increases. However, a recent study published in the International Journal of Drug Policy took a closer look at shifting cannabis policy following Canada’s cannabis legalization in October 2018, ultimately finding no association with legalization and increasing rates of cannabis-related psychosis.'

Another myth that has great impact on society, besides the cannabis causes insanity myth, is the myth that cannabis legalization will destroy teenagers who will take to cannabis in great numbers when it is legalized. This myth is greatly promoted by the anti-cannabis prohibitionists and most of society believes in this strongly, thus resisting cannabis legalization, even as teenagers binge on alcohol, tobacco and prescription medicine, besides cannabis, opioids and dangerous synthetic drugs like methamphetamine procured from the black market. What most people fail to realize is that it is the very prohibition of cannabis that is destroying the health of the young. For one thing, cannabis prohibition makes the teenager actively seek it out of curiosity. For another, in a banned environment the teenager procures cannabis from a black market peddler who is looking to upsell more expensive and dangerous drugs using cannabis as bait. For the black market peddler, things like the age of the buyer are a matter of least concern. In 19th century India, before cannabis was regulated and eventually prohibited, when cannabis grew freely like any other plant in nature and was widely available and used by society, teenage usage rates were minimal because society self-regulated and cannabis did not hold the fascination of the teenager, at least not any more than alcohol or tobacco. This is society in equilibrium. We see this return to equilibrium, with regard to teenage use, in Canada and US states like Washington and Colorado, where cannabis has been legalized for adult recreational use for more than a decade now. Contrary to the misplaced fears of society, and the propaganda by the ruling elites, teenage usage rates have gone down, not up, with adult cannabis legalization. This is because, with legalization, cannabis is sold in retail outlets where strict age restrictions are enforced where cannabis is not sold to a person below 18 or 21 years of age, as per the rules. The shrinking of the black market in Canada has meant that it is that much harder for a teenager to now procure cannabis illegally. Besides this, cannabis no longer holds that much fascination for the teenager, now that it is legalized, as it did when it was a prohibited substance that could be used as a means to show rebellion against the elders. NORML reports that 'The percentage of young people who say that it is “easy” for them to acquire cannabis has decreased significantly since Canada legalized the adult-use marijuana market, according to data published in the journal Archives of Public Health. Canadian researchers assessed young people’s perceptions surrounding the availability of cannabis products. They determined that the percentage of underage youth reporting that cannabis was easy to access decreased by 27 percent from 2018 – the year Canada legalized cannabis markets nationwide – to 2020. Self-reported marijuana consumption by young people also decreased during this period. The study’s authors concluded: “While there has been a growing number of studies focused on examining changes in cannabis use among Canadian youth since the onset of the Cannabis Act, and more recently since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there appears to be a paucity of research dedicated to examining changes in youth perceptions of cannabis availability over the same period of time. In response, this study provides unique and novel evidence of how youth perceptions of cannabis access have changed since the onset of the Cannabis Act. … Our data suggest that in our large samples of youth, perceptions of cannabis access as being easy has declined in prevalence since legalization and through the early and ongoing pandemic response period.”' These findings in Canada have been corroborated by federal bodies in the US as well such as the Center for Disease Control (CDC) which stated that overall teenage usage rates had fallen since legalization for adult use in the US states that have implemented the measure. NORML also reported that, 'The adoption of cannabis legalization in Canada has not been associated with significant upticks in either marijuana use by young people or in the percentage of people experiencing adverse cannabis-related consequences, according to longitudinal data published in the journal JAMA Open Network. A team of investigators from Canada and the United States assessed cannabis consumption trends in a cohort of at-risk young adults (ages 19 to 23) during the years immediately preceding and following legalization. Canada legalized the use and retail sale of marijuana products to those ages 18 and older in 2018. Researchers reported, “Individuals who used cannabis more frequently pre-legalization significantly decreased their use and cannabis-related consequences post-legalization.” By contrast, those who had no history of cannabis use prior to legalization typically reported engaging in the limited use of marijuana use following legalization. However, this use was not associated with adverse consequences.' NORML reported in August 2021 that 'They conclude: “In the lead up to legalization, professional associations … suggested that legalization posed a threat to public health, advocated for the legal age for cannabis use to be set at a minimum age of 21 or 25, or that Canada should not legalize at all because it would place youth at greater risk of harm. With such categorical fears now shown to be largely unfounded, this should provide the basis to move forward on more nuanced grounds. … [O]n the balance, cannabis legalization – especially when considering the severe adverse social impacts of criminalization, and especially for youth – continues to offer the potential to better protect and achieve consequential net benefits to public health and welfare of cannabis users and society at large.”' UNODC, in its World Drug Report 2020, stated that 'In 2019, young people aged 15–24 were more likely than those in older age groups to obtain cannabis from illegal sources, whereas a larger share of older cannabis users relied solely on legal sources; 41 per cent of cannabis users aged 65 or older reported using only legal sources to obtain cannabis, compared with roughly one quarter of the other age groups.'  These findings show that another of the primary objectives set by Canada, in its legalization of cannabis for adult recreational, use have been met.

The cannabis causes crime myth has been used by anti-cannabis prohibitionists from the time of India in the 19th century. The myth essentially says that mainly criminals use cannabis and cannabis usage incites crime. This myth was debunked in the 19th century itself by the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, when it summarized that 'In respect to his relations with society, however, even the excessive consumer of hemp drugs is ordinarily inoffensive. His excesses may indeed bring him to degraded poverty which may lead him to dishonest practices; and occasionally, but apparently very rarely indeed, excessive indulgence in hemp drugs may lead to violent crime. But for all practical purposes it may be laid down that there is little or no connection between the use of hemp drugs and crime.' But this is a major narrative, especially upheld by law enforcement, that plays a key role in keeping cannabis prohibited. It is a common argument used by law enforcement to target people from the lower classes and castes and terrorize them while at the same time keeping the upper class and caste elites who use cannabis to the same extent immune. Despite extensive scientific findings that alcohol is one of the primary causes of violent crimes and homicide and domestic violence, and the role that stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamine play, cannabis and its users are singled out through the cannabis causes crime myth. The argument that cannabis legalization will increase crime is often used by those who oppose legalization. The irony is that it is the prohibition that increases crime. One of the primary reasons why Canada legalized cannabis was to shrink the criminal black market for cannabis and its associated drug cartels that were involved in all kinds of criminal activities that made cannabis peddling pale in comparison. Similarly, two of the primary reasons cited by Germany for legalizing cannabis are in order to reduce crime and protect the youth. The recruitment of youth by criminal gangs is a menace that dogs all nations. The youth are lured in with the promise of easy money and access to drugs through peddling cannabis and dangerous synthetic drugs. When they are effectively snared by the criminal gangs, they are then employed to commit increasing drastic crimes. By this time the youth is so completely trapped by addiction, conditioning to crime and criminal history that it is quite difficult to get out of the mire. Wiley Publications reported in June 2021 that 'Findings: For females, legalization was associated with a step-effect decrease of 4.56 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.32, 5.81; P < 0.001) police-reported cannabis-related criminal offences per day, an effect equivalent to a 64.6% (standard error [SE] = 33.5%) reduction. For males, legalization was associated with a drop of 12.73 (95% CI = 8.82, 16.64; P < 0.001) cannabis-related offences per day, equaling a decrease of 57.7% (SE = 22.6%). Results were inconclusive as to whether there were associations between cannabis legalization and patterns of property crimes or violent crimes. Conclusions: Implementation of the Cannabis Act in Canada in 2018 appears to have been associated with decreases of 55%–65% in cannabis-related crimes among male and female youth.' The prohibition of cannabis provides law enforcement with an easy way to justify its existence. Cannabis related criminal cases dominate the courts in every country of the world and clog up the law enforcement and judicial system, thus giving both the excuse that their hands are full and so they cannot go after the elites who rampantly commit violent crimes and financial crimes on mammoth scales. Cannabis related cases enable the judiciary and law enforcement to seek bloated budgets that go into their pockets. Cannabis legalization means that all pending cannabis related cases must be dismissed, and the criminal records related to cannabis must be expunged. This removes a huge load from law enforcement, the judiciary and the marginalized sections of society. CBC reported in September 2021 that 'In the past 12 months, courts across Ontario have withdrawn or stayed 85 per cent of drug possession charges in the system before they ever reached trial, according to public data analyzed by CBC Toronto. By comparison, 45 per cent of such charges were dropped in 2019, prior to the pandemic.' The Canadian police force is one of the rare law enforcement exceptions that supports legalization and decriminalization. Most police forces across the world are among the biggest opponents of cannabis legalization. Marijuana Moment reported that 'The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) said that its recommendation is motivated by an interest in reducing overdose deaths and promoting treatment. This announcement comes two years after the organization created a commission tasked with studying decriminalization, the results of which were released in a new report. “Canada continues to grapple with the fentanyl crisis and a poisoned drug supply that has devastated our communities and taken thousands of lives,” CACP President Adam Palmer said in a press release. “We recommend that enforcement for possession give way to an integrated health-focussed approach that requires partnerships between police, healthcare and all levels of government.“' The elite criminals of the world would rather that society focused on cannabis than on their crimes. We see constant examples of this as is the case with the current US President Joe Biden. He dismissed White House staff for past associations with cannabis even as he failed to keep his repeated promises of pardoning cannabis related criminal cases and then finally - as one of the last throws of his dice before stepping down from office to make way for the psychopathic senile imbecile Donald Trump - pardoning his own son Hunter Biden who has a history of cocaine use and who has been indicted in cases of fraud.

The prohibition of cannabis means that scientific research is seriously hampered as researchers cannot access cannabis for their research on it. The boost that cannabis legalization has created for research with increased accessibility to the plant and data regarding its uses has spawned a number of research papers across diverse fields. These research papers debunk long standing myths. One such finding is that cannabis usage does not adversely affect the liver, unlike the usage of alcohol, tobacco and prescription medicine, besides opioids and dangerous synthetic drugs like methamphetamine. The use of cannabis should not be a criterion for rejecting a liver donor according to the finding. NORML reports that 'A history of cannabis use is not negatively associated with survival rates among patients receiving liver transplants, according to data published in the Canadian Liver Journal. Canadian researchers reviewed the relevant literature on cannabis use and transplantation survival rates. Eight studies involving over 5,500 subjects were included in the review. Authors determined, “[C]annabis use has not been associated with poor patient outcomes in terms of 1-, 3-, and 5-year patient survivals. Therefore, liver transplant candidates who use cannabis should not be denied access to transplantation.” The University of Alberta reported the benefits of cannabis in Huntington Disease, stating that 'Results: A total of 22 studies were reviewed. There was strong evidence for significant improvement in the neurologic symptoms of spasms, tremors, spasticity, chorea, and quality of sleep following treatment with medical marijuana. Analysis of specific motor symptoms revealed significant improvement after treatment in tremors and rigidity. Furthermore, all pretreatment and post-treatment measures indicated a significant increase in average number of hours slept. Conclusion: Larger scale studies are warranted to test the benefits of medical marijuana in HD [Huntington Disease] patients. In the meanwhile, clinicians may consider prescribing medical marijuana as part of their strategy for better symptomatic treatment of patients with HD.' Most research initiatives since the 1970s in the US, Canada and UK have been government funded with the primary aim of casting cannabis in a bad light so as to justify its continuing prohibition. Unfortunately, for the governments and the industries opposed to cannabis that fund such research, the findings from most research only further strengthen the fact that cannabis is not as harmful as it has been projected and that cannabis prohibition is the biggest weapon that the elites of the world use to subjugate and control the vast majority - the working classes, the indigenous communities, the minorities, the poor and the outcasts. Science Magazine reports that 'A new analysis of cannabis research funding in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom has found that $1.56 billion was directed to the topic between 2000 and 2018—with about half of the money spent on understanding the potential harms of the recreational drug. Just over $1 billion came from the biggest funder, the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which doled out far more money to research cannabis misuse and its negative effects than on using cannabis and cannabis-derived chemicals as a therapeutic drug'. The gradual legalization of cannabis has only resulted in an exponential growth of research that shows the benefits of cannabis. Many researchers are independent entities who are not funded by the government or the industries opposed to cannabis and so present the facts in an unbiased manner.

As stated earlier, one of the primary reasons for Canada legalizing cannabis usage for adults was to combat the opioid crisis that has greatly affected both Canada and the US. The blatant overprescription of opioids by physicians and the increasing addiction to it has seen overdose deaths spiral in Canada in recent times. UNODC, in its World Drug Report 2020, stated that 'Although geographically disconnected, the areas that were initially affected by the opioid crisis in Canada and the United States have experienced remarkably similar market dynamics, which can be broadly described in the following sequential steps: (a) High rates of prescriptions for pharmaceutical opioids leading to diversion and an increase in the non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids, opioid use disorders and an increase in opioid overdose deaths (b) Regulations introduced to reduce diversion and non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids (e.g., tamper-proof formulations to prevent injecting) (d) Fentanyl (illicitly manufactured in clandestine laboratories) and its analogues emerge as adulterants in heroin and stimulants (cocaine and methamphetamine) and are sold as falsified pharmaceutical opioids, resulting in massive increases in deaths attributed to fentanyls (e) Fentanyls emerge as the dominant opioid in opioid overdose deaths, as well as contributing to overdose deaths attributed to other drugs (g) Fentanyl-related deaths are the main contributor to total opioid overdose deaths;'  Cannabis is as good a painkiller as opium is, and much safer and less addictive than opium. You cannot overdose on cannabis and you will not become addicted to it despite extensive regular usage. Cannabis can be grown in most parts of the world enabling it to reach many more people across the world at affordable prices, unlike opioids that are mostly accessible only to the elites. Besides this, cannabis is being directly used to wean persons off chronic opioid addictions. NORML reports that 'Those who consume unregulated opioids frequently report using cannabis to mitigate their drug cravings, according to data published in the International Journal of Drug Policy. Canadian investigators assessed cannabis use trends among a cohort of 205 consumers of non-prescription opioids. Many of the cohort were IV drug users and at-risk youth. Nearly half of the study’s participants (45 percent) acknowledged using cannabis to manage opioid cravings. Of those, 62 percent “reported self-assessed decreases in opioid use during periods of cannabis use.” Subjects suffering from chronic pain were most likely to engage in opioid substitution. Authors concluded: “In the present study, we observed that cannabis use to manage opioid cravings was significantly associated with self-assessed decreases in opioid use during periods of cannabis use among a structurally marginalized population of PWUD [people who use unregulated opioids]. The sub-analysis indicated that this association was mainly driven by those living with moderate to severe pain. … This suggests that future studies of cannabis substitution for opioid use should measure and analyze the impact of pain, as not doing so may lead to equivocal findings when the effects of cannabis substitution may vary based on the prevalence of chronic pain.”' NORML reported in January 2021 that 'Patients authorized to use medical cannabis significantly reduce or eliminate their use of opioids over time, according to longitudinal data published in the Canadian Journal of Anaesthesia. A team of Canadian investigators assessed self-reported opioid consumption patterns over time in a cohort of authorized medical cannabis patients who suffered from pain-related issues. Consistent with numerous other studies, researchers reported that many subjects tapered their use of opioids following medical cannabis initiation. “The proportion of individuals who reported using opioids decreased by half” over a period of twelve months, they determined.' NORML reported again, in February 2021, that 'Authors concluded: “The findings of this 42-month time-series analysis revealed a steady and significantly consistent decline in the mean and median MED [morphine equivalent dose] per claim for public payer drug plans. However, when comparing the pre- versus post-legalization time periods, the decline in the mean MED per claim was approximately 5.4 times greater in the period following legalization (22.3 vs. 4.1 mg per claim). In addition, total public payer monthly opioid spending reductions averaged $Can95,000 per month before October 2018 [when adult-use sales were legalized] compared to $Can267,000 per month following the legalization of cannabis. Similar findings were also observed within private drug plans. … The findings of this study add to the growing body of evidence that easier access to cannabis for patients with pain may reduce opioid use and partially offset expenditures for both public and private drug plans.”' In April 2021, NORML reported that 'Researchers reported that cannabis use among pelvic pain patients rose 32 percent following the legalization of marijuana in Canada. Cannabis users were more likely than non-users to be taking fewer prescription medications, including anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids – a finding that is consistent with dozens of prior studies of other patient populations. Authors concluded: “Post-legalization, cannabis users were less likely to require daily opioids compared with cannabis users before legalization. The role, perceived benefits, and possible risks of cannabis for pelvic pain require further investigation.”' While Canada legalized cannabis to address the opioid crisis, the world's biggest consumer of heroin and other opium-derived drugs, the US, continues to keep cannabis illegal at the federal level, despite 24 out of 50 states (at the time of writing) having legalized it for adult use and the majority of Americans saying that cannabis should be legalized. The reason for this is that American pharma companies and the medical industry earn vast revenues from legal opioid sales. In addition to this, US politicians, law and drug enforcement and the drug cartels that they work with reap vast profits from the illegal sale of heroin, opioids, and the dangerous new synthetic substitute for heroin - fentanyl. The US obtains is opium from Mexico and Afghanistan and fentanyl from China, Mexico and local manufacturing units. UNODC, in its World Drug Report 2020, states that 'All factors driving fentanyl use converged from 2013 onwards in the United States and Canada, which may explain the unprecedented spread of the fentanyls in those markets: factors such as the diffusion of simpler, more effective methods of manufacture of synthetic opioids and their analogues (primarily fentanyls), assisted by the availability on the Internet of instructions for their manufacture; a shift from preparation by a limited number of skilled chemists to preparation by basic “cooks” who could simply follow the posted instructions; the discovery of ever more fentanyl analogues; a lack of effective control of precursors and oversight of the industry; expanding distribution networks that reduced the risk of detection through the use of postal services and the Internet; and increased licit trade including e-commerce.' So, it is hilarious to hear the imbecile Donald Trump threaten to impose tariffs against Canada claiming that fentanyl is entering the US through Canada. Legalizing cannabis federally will reduce the American fentanyl and opium problem, but then Trump - like his buddies Modi, Putin and Xi - is a puppet of the opium industry besides being a puppet of the petrochemical, construction, alcohol, tobacco, paper, non-biodegradable plastic, arms, synthetic pharmaceutical, chemical pesticide and fertilizer, synthetic fabrics, and other industries that together form the global elites. The fake pandemic Covid 19 was one of the strategies employed by the global elites to slow down global cannabis legalization and boost the sales of their opioids, synthetic pharmaceuticals, and petrochemical-based medical equipment. It had devastating effects on the world's health and environment and more than doubled the wealth of the elites who have grown rich from these industries, facts that the world's naive human population still remain oblivious of even after four years since the fake pandemic. CBC reported in September 2021 that 'Health Canada data says more than 21,000 Canadians have died from opioid-related overdoses since 2016. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, fatalities have reached record-high levels, with about 17 people dying per day last year. All parties have promised support for measures ranging from harm reduction, including supervised consumption sites, to recovery.'

It is not just the legal and illegal opioid industry, but the entire synthetic pharmaceutical industry and the medical industry that supports and benefits from the synthetic pharma industry that fear cannabis legalization and oppose it vehemently. Marijuana Moment reported that '“The results of the Tilray Observational Patient Study (TOPS) add to a growing body of evidence that cannabis use can lead to a reduction in the use of prescription drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and other substances” Philippe Lucas, lead study author, said in a press release. “In light of the devastating impacts of the opioid overdose crisis in Canada and around the world, research examining the potential influence of cannabis on opioid use may be of particular importance to public health, and these findings could inform harm reduction strategies to mitigate the significant morbidity and mortality associated with opioids,” he said. There were also similar reductions in the four other drug categories that the study investigated: non-opioid pain medication, anti-depressants, benzodiazepines and anti-seizure drugs.'

It is not just opioid and prescription synthetic pharmaceutical medication abuse that cannabis legalization addresses. It is also the problem of alcohol addiction and death which is why the alcohol industry - responsible for over 3 million deaths annually, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and responsible for a significant number of cases of violent homicide, domestic violence and fatal accidents, according to the United Nations Office of Drug Control (UNODC) - is a major opponent of cannabis legalization. NORML reports that 'Many of the patients enrolled in Canada’s medical cannabis program report reducing their alcohol intake, according to data published in The International Journal of Drug Policy. A team of researchers with the Canadian Institute for Substance Abuse Research and the University of Victoria, School of Public Health and Social Policy surveyed nearly 1,000 federally authorized medical cannabis patients. Survey participants reported on their use of alcohol prior to and following their enrollment in the nation’s medical cannabis access program. Investigators reported that 44 percent of respondents reported “decreases in alcohol frequency” following their participation in the cannabis access program. Of those, 85 percent reported decreasing the number of drinks they consumed per week, while 18 percent reported consuming no alcohol during the 30-day period prior to taking the survey.'

One of the things that surely irks the ruling elites in the US is the fact that Canadian military veterans have been eligible for medical cannabis for quite some time now. They can be prescribed cannabis to treat their medical conditions - especially post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), pain, anxiety, insomnia - and they are covered by medical insurance that reimburses the money spent.  NORML reported in June 2021 that 'A team of researchers from Canada and Italy assessed the safety and efficacy of cannabis in a cohort of 214 Canadian patients authorized under the law to use marijuana products. Investigators assessed patients’ symptoms and quality of life prior to using medical cannabis and six weeks after initiating treatment. The majority of patients participating in the study were over 50 years of age. Among patients suffering from chronic pain conditions, 76 percent reported improvements in their symptoms after six weeks. Patients with post-traumatic stress also reported significant improvements in their quality of life following the short-term use of medical cannabis. Subjects primarily diagnosed with sleep disorders also reported marked improvements in their symptoms.' In the US, the military veterans have been waging a long battle for years demanding that they be eligible for medical cannabis covered by medical insurance. This is the least that one would expect the US government to do for its soldiers after sending millions out to kill, be killed and maim themselves in such far-off places like Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan in order to protect the ruling elites and their industries. Many US veterans are seriously damaged physically and mentally from the ordeal that they have been put through. But the Veteran Affairs department of the US has repeatedly denied these veterans the right to cannabis as safe, affordable and effective medicine because the US army is one of the biggest markets for alcohol, tobacco, opioids and synthetic pharmaceutical prescription drugs. The Republican politicians explicitly, and the Democratic politicians implicitly, deny the US veteran cannabis as medicine in order to further their own selfish interests, repeatedly blocking legislature that aims at providing cannabis as medicine for the US veterans. This has pushed millions of US veterans to alcohol, opioid, synthetic pharmaceutical and methamphetamine addictions that have killed them on the streets of the very country that they were ready to give up their lives to protect, as they were made to believe was their duty by the elites. In contrast, the Canadian military veterans not only get their medical cannabis on prescription, but they also get reimbursed for the money spent. In 2020, 25% of medical cannabis in Canada was used by Canadian veterans and at that time the Canadian veteran medical cannabis market was bigger than the entire medical cannabis markets in Europe and Australia. The complete legalization of cannabis in Canada has meant that Canadian veterans even have the option of directly purchasing cannabis from the legal recreational market if they do not wish to take the route of medical cannabis with its prescriptions and insurance coverage. In the US, where cannabis is federally banned, veterans will probably need to relocate to the US states where cannabis has been legalized for recreational use or purchase their cannabis from the black market. There are enough instances of US veterans ending up in prison for cannabis possession in the US to show the value that they are given in US society. MJBizDaily reported in 2020 that 'To put that into global perspective, Veterans Affairs Canada’s fiscal year spending on medical marijuana exceeded Australia’s medical marijuana market in 2020, which was estimated to be worth approximately CA$100 million. And the 14,463 kilograms (31,885 pounds) of cannabis reimbursed by Veterans Affairs Canada in 2020 was ahead of the European Union’s legal flower market that year, which dispensed approximately 10,000 kilograms. That points to how small some of the largest medical cannabis markets outside North America remain, and how much room there is for growth. Medical cannabis uptake by Canadian veterans comes as overall spending in Canada on the medicine has largely stagnated in recent years. Veterans account for about a quarter of Canada’s medical marijuana market by spending'. Saltwire News reported in 2019 that 'The Department of Veterans Affairs spent $77,794,212.57 last year on marijuana. That is more than the department spent ($66.2 million) on the 12,000 other drugs approved to be prescribed for veterans.'

One of the indicators of whether cannabis legalization has adversely affected public health is whether cannabis related hospitalizations have increased since legalization with its increased access of the herb. It should be obvious that a herb that has been used across geographies for thousands of years by uncountable numbers of humans will not increase hospitalizations when legalized after being prohibited. The whole reason why cannabis has been used so extensively for thousands of years and why it is still the most widely used drug despite being illegal is the fact that it is as harmful as tea or coffee, or probably even less so. But the naysayers are always looking for evidence to justify their greatest folly. So numerous studies have been conducted to see if cannabis legalization has increased hospitalization rates in all places where it has been legalized. NORML reports that 'Policies legalizing the use and sale of cannabis products have not led to an increase in marijuana-related hospitalizations, according to data published in the Journal of Addictive Diseases. Canadian investigators tracked rates of cannabis-related hospitalizations in Alberta in the years prior to and following legalization. Canadian lawmakers legalized the use and sale of cannabis flowers for those ages 18 and older in October 2018. Retailers began engaging in the sales of cannabis concentrates and edible products in 2020. Researchers identified an increase in hospitalizations among those ages 18 to 24 in the period immediately prior to legalization, but they acknowledged that there were no increases in hospitalizations following legalization among representatives of any age group. “Legalization was not significantly associated with immediate or ongoing changes in hospitalization rates … for either younger or older adults,” the study’s authors concluded.' NORML reported in August 2021 that 'Investigators reported: “We found that the rate of positive cannabinoid screen results among patients with trauma referred directly to our trauma service was similar in the 3 months before and [in] the 3 months after the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada. … In the subgroup of patients whose mechanism of trauma was a motor vehicle collision, there was no difference in the rate of positive toxicology screen results or positive cannabinoid screen results between the two periods.” They concluded, “These preliminary single-center data showing no increased rates of cannabis use in patients with trauma after legalization are reassuring.”'

In August 2020, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce made a press release that stated 'The Canadian Chamber of Commerce International Cannabis Council and the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp (ATACH) are pleased to announce that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to better support Canadian and American companies seeking to capitalize on the exponential growth of the international cannabis market. Canada and the U.S. are playing a leading role in the development of this nascent global industry. Canada is the first large developed economy to legalize recreational cannabis for adult use and boasts some of the most innovative recreational and medical cannabis producers in the world. Communities across Canada have been re-vitalized through investments by the regulated cannabis industry, with production and processing facilities that provide thousands of Canadians with good-paying, middle-class jobs. The cannabis industry has already contributed an additional $8.3B to Canada’s GDP as of July 2019. The U.S. market is poised to exceed $15B in sales in 2020 with several new state-level markets poised to legalize'. There are multiple ways in which both Canada and the US can benefit from federal legalization in the US. The synergy that this can bring can revolutionize the cannabis industry in North America and enable it to be a united force in the global cannabis trading scenario. Colorado in the US, was the first US state to legalize cannabis for adult use in 2012, two years before Canada legalized cannabis. Since then, 24 US states have legalized cannabis for recreational use and 38 US states have legalized cannabis for medical use, at the time of writing this. These include major US states like California, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, etc. Each state in the US that has legalized cannabis for recreational use has faced its own unique challenges due to the bespoke model of legalization in the US. There are vast lessons to be learned from this. Similarly, Canada has legalized cannabis at the federal level at the outset and this has also produced vast learnings. The knowledge sharing between the two nations can create a robust practical model of legal cannabis that ensures that everyone has access to it and those who put in the hard work are rewarded for their effort. Together, Canada and the US can revolutionize the rise of sustainable industries based on cannabis, enabling North America to combat the synthetic drug crisis, the petrochemical and fossil fuel based global warming and the problems of surplus stock in some places and shortage of cannabis in others. The US boast many sunny places that can produce the cannabis required for global Canadian companies to meet the needs of the local population and its international export requirements. The press release by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce must have sent a shock down the spines of those who fund and support American politicians to ensure that cannabis remains prohibited. The fake pandemic Covid 19 was a result of this shock and other similar shocks that the global industries opposed to cannabis and the politicians who work as their puppets felt, spurring them to take drastic measures even if it only pushed the world closer to the brink of the void. MJBizDaily reported in October 2021 that 'Canadian cannabis companies have picked up the pace to position themselves in the fast-growing markets south of the border – with a number of the deals essentially a wager that the United States will soon legalize marijuana. The recent deals add up to hundreds of millions of dollars and include: Options to acquire equity in midsized U.S. multistate operators; The acquisition of a marijuana company’s debt; Purchases of CBD companies; Strategic partnerships.' News like this would have surely bothered the US elites like senile imbecile psychopath Donald Trump and his new megalomaniac friend Elon Musk who cannot imagine Canadian businesses gaining strong footholds in the US market, prompting Donald Trump to express his insane desire to assimilate Canada into the US as its 51st state.

The problems of uneven supply and demand continue to dog Canada as its regulatory framework grapples with ongoing change. The main reason for this is that tight regulation is hampering progress. On the one hand, there is excess produce in some areas whereas, on the other hand, there are not enough retail outlets. October 2019, a year after legalization, saw a bumper harvest in Canada resulting in surplus crops. MJBizDaily reported that 'The 220,461 kilograms (221 metric tons) of new cannabis is about 50% more than the previous monthly record, in October 2019, likely owing to the first outdoor yields. The ballooning inventory is expected to put more pressure on mass producers to cut production capacity until supplies of specific products sought by consumers more closely meet demand. The inventory overhang also could put added downward pressure on cannabis prices, which have been falling steadily since legalization in late 2018.' The requirement for licenses to open a retail outlet present a hurdle that most businesses of persons belonging to poor economic backgrounds cannot surmount. After six years of legalization and seeing its effects, it is time to loosen regulation on cannabis cultivation and sales and to treat it as any other commodity. Otherwise, the black market will always present a more workable option for sellers with excessive produce but no license and buyers without access to a retail outlet. Fool reports that 'To begin with, some of the blame can be assigned to regulators. In Ontario, provincial regulators stood by an ineffective lottery licensing system for dispensaries until Dec. 31, 2019, before abandoning it for a more traditional application and vetting process. This lottery system left Ontario completely unprepared -- a mere 24 stores were open by mid-October 2019 -- and led to significant supply bottlenecks in the region. Secondly, licensed produces are partly to blame. Without any precedent to a legal marijuana industry in an industrialized country, pot stocks expanded their production capacity and made acquisitions without really understanding the ramifications of their decisions. In recent months, dried flower has flooded a market that simply doesn't have enough dispensaries to sell it. And third, the black market remains a nuisance for the Canadian cannabis industry. With taxes being levied on legal weed purchases, the only way for pot stocks to be price-competitive with the illicit industry is by producing value-branded product. While these value brands can help lure in legal-channel consumers, they've been absolutely wrecking margins and the push toward profitability (see Cronos and OrganiGram).' In June 2021, MJBizDaily reported that 'Cannabis producers in Canada have sold less than 20% of their production since the country launched adult-use sales in October 2018, according to an MJBizDaily analysis. The newest data – which runs through 2020 – implies that most of the cannabis produced from 2018 through last year was either stored in inventory or destroyed, and less than one-fifth ended up in retail stores. That disconnect likely helps explain how the largest Canadian cannabis producers, which account for most of the industry’s production, together have lost more than 11 billion Canadian dollars ($8.8 billion) cumulatively. Some industry experts blame poor-quality cannabis for the sales shortfall.' 

After six years of adult use legalization, Canada is in the process of finetuning its regulatory policies regarding cannabis. Recreational cannabis sales in Canada happen through government-controlled retail outlets and private retails with the state deciding how many outlets a particular region can have. The United Nations Office of Drug Control (UNODC) stated in its World Drug Report 2020 that 'In most provinces, the retail licensing regime is similar to that regulating the sale of liquor, and cannabis is sold through licensed retailers (private sector), provincial retail stores (public sector) and online. Many provinces have adopted a hybrid model that allows either public or private physical retail outlets together with online retail controlled by regulatory authorities, or a combination of all three. With the exception of the Nunavut territory, all the provinces and territories allow retail sales of cannabis products online. British Columbia and Yukon are the only province and territory that allow all three modes, while Alberta, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario and Saskatchewan have allowed private bricks-and-mortar retail stores.' UNODC further stated that 'According to the new cannabis regulations, the federal Government of Canada is responsible for setting the requirements for those who grow and produce cannabis, including the types of cannabis products available for sale. For example, the regulations were amended in October 2019 to allow the production and sale of edible cannabis, cannabis extracts and topicals, and the sale of those products began gradually from December 2019. The provincial and territorial governments, for their part, are Responsible for developing, implementing, maintaining and enforcing systems to oversee the distribution and sale of cannabis.' Traditional medical pharmacies have not been part of the retail structure for cannabis. With most medical users of cannabis (and all cannabis is medical, mind you, despite what the elites would like to say) procuring their cannabis from cannabis retail outlets and with increasing numbers of people rejecting synthetic pharmaceutical drugs in favor of cannabis, it is no wonder that the traditional medical pharmacies that peddled synthetic pharmaceuticals are now asking that they also be allowed to sell cannabis, or medical cannabis, as they would prefer to call it. MJBizDaily reported that 'A government-appointed panel of experts analyzing Canada’s adult-use legalization law, the Cannabis Act, has recommended the country enable pharmacy access for medical marijuana and reconsider how excise tax is applied to recreational products. The proposals are part of a final report, 18 months in the making, that lays out 54 recommendations and a number of observations for the federal government to consider. Some of the recommendations align with industry expectations, such as allowing pharmacies to sell medical cannabis products, which the largest pharmacy chain in the country, Shoppers Drug Mart, had been calling for.' MJBizDaily further reported that 'Medical cannabis products in Canada should be dispensed to patients inside pharmacies – a natural progression for the sector that would lead to improved practitioner oversight, according to the point person for medical marijuana at Shoppers Drug Mart, the largest pharmacy chain in the country. Ken Weisbrod, the outgoing vice president of business development/cannabis strategy, noted that Canada stands alone by excluding pharmacies from medical cannabis distribution.' 

Over regulation of an herb comparable to coffee or tea, that has been safely used by billions of humans, animals, birds and insects for thousands of years only defeats the purpose of cannabis legalization. It not only makes the cannabis industry accessible only to the ruling elites, but it also creates the same problems that the industries opposed to cannabis have created, such as human induced climate change. MJBizDaily reports that 'Boodram said virtual cannabis inspections could ultimately open the door to more inspections, more often. “We’ve all seen that there’s such a large number of license holders now. There’s over 500,” she said. “And each regional (inspection) team obviously has a finite number of staff.” More inspections could be welcomed by some cannabis license holders, Boodram suggested. “A lot of them actually really do like having inspections, because it ensures that their company is moving forward in a compliant manner, before they get too far down the rabbit hole.” Canada’s current federal government has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from government activities by 80% between 2005 levels and 2020.' It is the synthetic human made products that emerge from the laboratory that need tight regulation and control, not the safe natural herbs that many life forms have made a part of their lives for thousands of years, an herb that offers a way out of our environmental crisis through sustainable economics. If cannabis was unsafe, it would not have become so widely used for so long, especially by other animals, birds and insects that have far greater intelligence than humans. The current excess amount of regulation stems from the perceived need of governments and policymakers to project themselves as being concerned about the well-being of society, especially after the 150 years of anti-cannabis propaganda that they themselves ardently pursued. It is primarily the elites of society who demand that these regulations be in place, like people who have not had a bath for years asking that the water be at a specific temperature before they agree to take the much-needed bath. All these regulations may have been justified when the first elites got back to cannabis consumption after prohibition to convince themselves, but after more than a decade, where numerous places have legalized cannabis for recreational use and found it to be very successful, there is no need for every new place going for legalization to implement overly stringent regulations. The amount of regulation that cannabis requires is the same as that of any other consumable commodity as the problems that affect it - such as contamination with heavy metals or microbial bodies - is common to every consumable commodity in the world.

When Canada legalized cannabis for recreational use, it was only in flower and resin form. It took some time for cannabis edibles (including beverages) and concentrates to hit the market but since then sales have been growing significantly year on year. This is primarily driven by segments of the market that view smoking in general as harmful or who prefer to be discrete about their cannabis usage, such as women, due to the stigma that they still associate with it after decades of propaganda. MJBizDaily reported in 2020 that 'Edibles inventory has risen 85% since March, whereas sales for medical and nonmedical use grew only 29%. Edibles, including beverages, earned 4.5% of the market share in Ontario, 4.9% in British Columbia and 5.3% in Alberta, during the first six months those items were available in Canada, according to data collected by Seattle analytics firm Headset'. MJBizDaily reported in early 2021 that 'Canadians purchased 109 million Canadian dollars ($87 million) worth of recreational cannabis edibles in 2020, the first full year they were available in the country, according to data recently published by Statistics Canada. While that’s only 4.2% of all regulated cannabis sales last year, experts see significant growth happening in the coming year as inventory and selection improve and prices continue to fall.' In May 2021 Tricity News reported that 'The maker of Samuel Adams beer and Truly Hard seltzer is moving into Canada's cannabis beverages market. The Boston Beer Co. says it will create a subsidiary to serve as a Canadian research and innovation hub for non-alcoholic cannabis beverages.' MJBizDaily reported in November 2021 that 'Of the CA$1.8 billion in spending on legal cannabis from January through June: Extracts and concentrates sales at retail were CA$291.7 million, or 16.4% of total spending; Spending on edibles (minus beverages) reached CA$68.1 million, or 3.8% of total spending; Beverages spending was $23.6 million, or 1.3% of total spending; Spending on dried cannabis reached CA$1.3 billion, or 73% of total spending. Statistics Canada said it did not disclose spending on cannabis oil, seeds or plants to meet certain requirements of the Statistics Act. Medical cannabis spending was also omitted, but MJBizDaily previously reported that Canadian medical cannabis spending was CA$242 million in the first half of this year.' New Frontier Data reported in November 2021 that 'With this month occasioning the third anniversary of Canada’s nationwide legalization of adult-use cannabis, the Great White North in many ways maintains the mantle among global cannabis markets. As the first G-7 nation to fully legalize cannabis (five years after Uruguay became the world’s first country to do so, the Canadian cannabis industry has illustrated both the potential profits and practical pitfalls in developing an international cannabis marketplace. Since legal sales began in October 2018, legal cannabis sales have steadily risen. More than CAD $1.3 billion of cannabis products were sold in Q2-2021 for non-medical use, marking nearly 12% growth from the previous quarter. New Frontier Data projects that by 2025, that number will grow to $5.2 billion. Sales growth has been supported by the introduction of edible and topical products in late 2019. While dried flower still dominates the market, accounting for a reported 73% of spending in all categories in Q2-’21, that margin is shrinking.' UNODC reported, in its World Drug Report 2020, that 'While most cannabis users had used more than one product, over three quarters of users purchased and consumed dried cannabis flower or leaf for smoking. Although the sale of edibles and extracts started only at the end of 2019, a substantial share of cannabis users reported using edible cannabis products (26 per cent), cannabis oil or vape pens (19 per cent), hashish (16 per cent) and solid cannabis concentrates (14 per cent) during the same year.'  Like edibles and beverages, concentrates have also been finding increasing market share in a consumer market that is still dominated by flower sales. MJBizDaily reports that '“I think a traditional pressed hash is a safe reintroduction back into cannabis for people who have maybe been sitting on the sidelines for a while and who maybe smoked it in high school and college,” he said. Vennat believes a successful concentrates strategy can involve “cooking with what’s in the fridge.” “In essence, what you’re doing is you’re taking what, in many ways, is considered a byproduct of your cultivation practice, and you’re turning it into a commercial consumer packaged good.”'

Home growing is the backbone of the legal cannabis world. Through home growing the most marginalized sections of society can access cannabis. Home growing helps to nurture and protect cannabis biodiversity. Canada permits an individual to grow up to four plants per household. While this is good, one must remember that the climatic conditions in Canada do not present ideal conditions for home growing outdoors. The use of artificial lighting makes cannabis unsustainable. These factors mean that large scale cultivation is still the way that large numbers of people can access cannabis. But wherever possible, home growing must be encouraged. It is through this that endangered varieties of cannabis can be revived. Home growing also results in the creation of craft cannabis businesses especially by small entrepreneurs who mostly come from the poor and marginalized sections of society. MJBizDaily reports that 'Health Canada data shows seed sales rose eight times between February and June this year. Sales fell off again at the end of summer but remained relatively strong through August. Most provinces allow home cultivation of four plants per household. “To some extent, you can attribute it to people being at home and they have time. People are stressed out and they’re burning through more product,” BC Northern Lights founder Tarren Wolfe told Marijuana Business Daily.' The bottom line is that Canadian cannabis will never reach the quality of cannabis that we find in traditional cannabis growing countries like Mexico, Morocco, Afghanistan, India, etc. that have abundant sunshine and conditions suitable for large scale cannabis cultivation. In this scenario, until cannabis is legalized in all these nations, the best hope for good quality Canadian cannabis is the home growing and craft cannabis small-scale businesses. This recognition has led to an increasing surge in small-scale cannabis cultivation in Canada. There is evidence on the ground of this recognition. MJBizDaily reports that 'Large Canadian cannabis producers are turning to small-batch cultivators to tap into a growing consumer appetite for higher-quality “premium” marijuana products. To that end, some large licensed producers have entered into partnerships with craft companies. Others have bought them outright, and some are buying craft cannabis in the wholesale market for resale at the retail level. The rise of small-batch production comes after mass producers spent years and billions of dollars cultivating cannabis, the vast majority of which was ultimately unsaleable. An MJBizDaily analysis found that Canadian LPs destroyed more cannabis than they managed to sell in legal channels from 2018 through 2020.'  MJBizDaily reported in September 2021 that 'The Canadian cannabis industry is becoming more fragmented than ever, with the biggest licensed producers continuing to lose market share as a whole, according to a report by Bank of Montreal analyst Tamy Chen. Citing data from analytics firm Hifyre, the report notes that the top five licensed producers represented less than 40% of the Canadian market in August, down substantially from a year ago when the producers accounted for more than half of all retail sales. Similarly, the top nine cannabis producers accounted for almost 80% of the market last year, but that has fallen to a combined 62%. The fragmentation comes despite month after month of record sales across Canada and significant spending on mergers and acquisitions this year, including the blockbuster combination of Tilray and Aphria.' The problem with any 'big business' is that it serves only the elites and becomes a threat to the vast majority of the world's beings. Finally, the sustainability of cannabis in the world lies in the hands of the small farmers and not mammoth companies. In the traditional cannabis cultivating nations, the small farmer was the backbone that enabled production of diverse varieties of high-quality cannabis. The elites keep forgetting that cannabis is the herb of the poor. To cultivate cannabis, one must pursue it as an artform with love and passion and not as a giant company that usurps the lands from the poor to create industrial scale cannabis. MJBizDaily reported in October 2021 that 'A group of small- and medium-sized Canadian marijuana cultivators is calling on the federal government to reform its cannabis excise tax regime, seeking an end to a flat minimum per-gram tax and other tax adjustments based on a producer’s size. The Stand For Craft campaign, which launched Wednesday, says it represents “craft (licensed producers), processors, and micro cultivators coming forward to reiterate systemic financial dysfunction in the current excise regime.” Specifically, the campaign advocates for removal of the 1 Canadian dollar (78 cents)-minimum-per-gram excise tax, while reforming the alternative percentage-based per gram tax. It calls on the government to apply that percentage-based excise tax based on “different tax tiers” for micro-cultivators, “craft-scale standard growers,” “small to medium cultivation enterprises” and “large cultivators.”' The United Nations Office of Drug Control (UNODC) in its World Drug Report 2020 stated that 'Although the Cannabis Act introduced a variety of classes of cannabis licences, including for smaller producers, the federal Government requires that a potential supplier have a production facility in place, meaning that the supplier will have already made a substantial investment prior to applying for a licence. Some have speculated that this has contributed to deterring small entrepreneurs from applying for licences and may have favoured the emergence of a market dominated or even monopolized by a relatively small number of large, multi-billion-dollar businesses. There have also been reports of the alcohol, tobacco and finance industries investing in companies involved in nonmedical cannabis production. For instance, according to media sources, in October 2017 Constellation Brands, a major international producer of wine, beer and spirits, invested $4 billion to acquire a 9.9 per cent stake in Canopy Growth, the leading Canadian producer, to develop cannabis-based beverages. By the end of December 2019, Constellation owned a 35 per cent stake in Canopy. In December 2018, the tobacco company Altria made a $1.8 million investment in Cronos Group, a cannabis production company, giving Altria a 45 per cent interest in Cronos. Earlier in the year, Molson Coors Brewing, another multinational alcohol company, signed a joint venture with Quebec-based HEXO to develop and market cannabis-infused beverages. Market analysts have predicted that the alcohol industry will also invest in companies that plan to produce beverages that combine cannabis and beer and, in particular, they predicted that by the end of 2019 two of the largest cannabis companies in the world would be owned by two of the largest alcohol and tobacco companies'

Canada's cannabis usage has so far been dominated by the medical and recreational use of the plant. These are just two of the wide range of uses that cannabis has for society. Areas like food and nutrition, beverages, animal feed, bio-degradable plastics, paper and packaging, biofuels, automobile parts, construction, wellness, tourism, culture, fabrics and fiber, etc., are only starting to emerge. This is because there has not been sufficient focus on the ability of the cannabis plant to combat the industries causing environmental destruction and global warming. Cannabis, if put to its full range of uses can make a nation significantly more environmentally and economically sustainable, cutting down massive costs and damage to the environment in the process. Unlike in the US, where the 2018 Farm Bill legalized the cultivation of hemp (low THC cannabis) for industrial purposes resulting in numerous sustainable industries that use hemp as raw material, Canada has been slower in leveraging these additional benefits of cannabis. This is starting to change with increased awareness. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that 'The Canadian hemp sector continues to be driven by the food and nutrition markets, despite the 2018 regulatory changes that legalized recreational cannabis, and opened the potential for new markets for hemp-extracted cannabinoids. The production and distribution of cannabinoids and cannabinoid containing-products (including CBD) remain highly regulated, although Health Canada is considering a possible regulatory framework for cannabis health products (such as CBD-containing products) for humans and animals.' MJBizDaily reported movement in the beverages sector when it said that 'The lineup of five drink brands unveiled Tuesday includes both CBD and THC products. Most contain 2.5 milligrams to 5 milligrams of THC, characterized as a “medium dose.” The “XMG” beverage brand contains 10 milligrams of THC, the maximum allowed under Canadian cannabis regulations.' Canadian cannabis regulations stipulate that there must be a 10mg limit on the psychotropic compound delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in edibles and beverages manufactured in Canada. I am not sure how the 10mg limit was arrived at, since THC is the most medicinal compound in cannabis. It probably has the most psychotropic value but the other cannabis compounds, including the widely accepted cannabidiol (CBD), have psychotropic value as well. This is evidence of the continual targeting of THC across the world as the main villain and the reason why cannabis is prohibited. At a time when one can buy alcohol containing v/v % of 90% off the shelf, the 10mg limit on THC is quite absurd. Of course, when one remembers that it was some researcher in Canada who came up with the completely arbitrary and unscientific limit of 0.3% THC as the determinant of whether the cannabis plant is legal or illegal globally, one would not be surprised by these kinds of measures that arise more from ignorance than any scientific reasons. This completely arbitrary limit has meant that billions of cannabis plants have been exterminated because they do not meet the limits of THC laid down, and possibly millions of persons have gone to prison for it. Most law enforcement and judiciary the world over do not even test to see if the plants seized meet the 0.3% THC limits or not, they just destroy the plant and imprison the cultivator or seller, very often a person from a marginalized section of society. Leafly reports about how this arbitrary THC limit has become the fine line between life and death for both plant and the poorest human where it says, 'The history of how 0.3% became the THC limit for hemp goes back to Canada and various countries across Europe, who first adopted that standard for hemp farmers in the 1990s. When farmers in the US began to lobby for the right to farm hemp, they followed suit. “We thought ‘well, we’ve got to go with what the standard is in Canada and Europe because it was going to be harder to make an argument that you needed a different standard,’” said Eric Steenstra, President and Co-Founder of US hemp advocacy group Vote Hemp. “It just sort of became a de facto standard, even though it wasn’t really based on any kind of science.”'  Even CBD finds it difficult to penetrate the Canadian wellness industry, unlike in other places. The EU has approved the use of cannabis in the wellness sector. Even the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has declared that CBD is not banned anymore. Forbes reports that '“In Europe, CBD has been accepted and encouraged as a wellness product, whereas in Canada, it’s still scheduled and hidden from sight,” she says. “I think as Canada starts to open up its regulatory approaches and adopt CBD under a wellness regime, we will be able to proliferate and the marketplace will be similar to Europe.”' MJBizDaily reported in June 2021 that 'Topical cannabis products, such as skin creams, lotions, bath bombs, massage oils and lubricants, became legal in Canada in late 2019, but the category remains small relative to other cannabis-derived products that hit the market at the same time, including vape pens, edibles and beverages.'

In a world where human-induced climate change is pushing all life to the brink, the importance of cannabis legalization cannot be over emphasized. New Frontier Data reported in November 2021 that 'Last summer, Darshil Shah, a senior researcher at the Centre for Natural Material Innovation at the University of Cambridge in the U.K., notably asserted (if without citing any studies) that hemp crops may capture atmospheric carbon more effectively than forests, estimating that industrial hemp absorbs between 3 to 6 tons of CO2 per acre. The most-cited study about carbon sequestration in soil by growing industrial hemp was authored and submitted to the Australian government by GoodEarth Resources PTY, Ltd. (i.e., GoodEarth Resources), before the latter disbanded in 2014. The study claims that one acre of industrial hemp absorbs nearly 40,000 pounds of CO2 through its growing cycle. According to the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA), industrial hemp sequesters carbon through photosynthesis, storing it in the body of the plant and its roots. The CTHA states that approximately 40% of hemp biomass is carbon. While Shah and the GoodEarth Resources study address carbon sequestered in the soil from hemp production, the carbon in the stalk of the hemp plant equates to increased value by “permanently capturing” CO2 in long-life products (e.g., hurd-based concrete and cement). Those potentially carbon-negative biomaterials require comprehensive life-cycle assessments by qualified material scientists to quantify and spur that area of interest.' But the global elites and the industries that makes them rich and pushes the world to climate catastrophe remain staunch deniers of human-induced climate change and the biggest opponents of the global cannabis legalization that offers a sliver of hope for life on earth. 

The best way to clear the myths, delusions and propaganda and arrive at the truth is the use of facts and scientific data. One of the biggest benefits of federal cannabis legalization in Canada is that the government has set up the framework to capture the emerging data and analyze it to understand what it means. UNODC, in its World Drug Report 2020, said 'To monitor the outcome of the new cannabis regulations, the Government of Canada has invested in a formal system that may eventually help to evaluate their impact and support the further development of policies and programmes. One of the main measures taken to that end is a cannabis survey that established a baseline in 2018 and is repeated every quarter in order to provide objective information on trends in the use of cannabis products, both medical and non-medical, as well as on how the legal cannabis market has evolved over time.' At the time of legalization, the Canadian government reported on its website that 'Given the significant public interest in understanding the demand and supply of cannabis since the coming into force of the Cannabis Act, Health Canada is making available a preliminary summary of information submitted to date. The summary table will be updated periodically, as reported information is verified and validated and as new data is submitted to the department. In addition to providing this summary data, Health Canada will publish a more detailed summary of data reported to the Cannabis Tracking System , as well as data pertaining to cannabis for medical purposes. This is consistent with the department’s practice prior to October 17, 2018, where market-related data reported under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations was published on Health Canada’s website every three months.' Governmental organizations such as Statistics Canada and Health Canada have been able to capture data, analyze it and take informed decisions based on it. In the six years since legalization, the Canadian government and researchers have been able to obtain vast amounts of data spread across diverse areas such as regional and overall sales, per person consumption, size of black and legal market, amount consumed locally versus exported, amount of production, impact on opioids and prescription medication usage, revenue and taxes generated, and so on...All this is not possible in a place where cannabis is prohibited and the entire cannabis picture remains a dark void that enables myths and propaganda to be created and transmitted, mostly to the detriment of cannabis and its users and the benefit of the elites and the industries that prosper due to its prohibition.

Besides the need to expand the cannabis industry in Canada beyond recreational and medical cannabis to its potential industrial uses, Canada must also step back and examine if the legalization of cannabis has benefited the poor and the marginalized or only the elites and upper classes. Science Direct reported in 2020 that 'Results: With just one exception, we find that both Black and Indigenous people are over-represented amongst those arrested for cannabis possession across the five cities examined. Conclusions: Canadian cannabis legalization lacks measures to redress the racialized harms caused by the war on drugs because the full extent of these harms remains largely unknown. Broader collection and dissemination of disaggregated criminal justice data is needed in the Canadian context in order to inform criminal justice and social policy.' Most people forget that cannabis prohibition the world over is essentially enforcement of the class and caste system aimed at keeping the poorest sections of society chained while the elites continue to access their cannabis without any problems. Cannabis is, first and foremost, the herb of the poorest people of the world, the marginalized indigenous communities, the lowest castes, the lowest classes, the mendicants, tramps and beggars. These people, who together constitute the vast majority of the world, used cannabis, before it was banned, for recreation, medicine, spirituality, nutrition, clothing, shelter and sustainable livelihood. It enabled them to work long hours in adverse conditions without falling ill. Most legalization initiatives in recent times have mainly benefited the elite ruling classes who are the only ones who have the means to enter the business of cannabis. This is mainly due to the nature of the regulatory framework that has been created which includes limited and costly licenses, extensive testing and a myriad of rules that mean that only the well-to-do can prosper with cannabis today. This defeats the entire purpose of cannabis legalization as it continues to benefit the very same demographic that profited from cannabis prohibition - the elite classes of society. Besides, keeping the poorest and the marginalized sections of society out of the legal cannabis framework will only ensure that the black market can never be eliminated. Cannabis has to benefit the poorest of the poor, only then can any legalization initiative be considered successful. Otherwise, it is just another cage that the elites of the world build to imprison the vast majority of the world and further strengthen the class and caste system that exists in every part of the world. Indigenous communities in Canada and the US have been keen to get into a business involving the plant that rightfully belongs to them but they have faced the same discrimination here that they face everywhere else. MJBizDaily reports that '“While we have been able to work through many barriers, I believe they are systemic. Whether accessing investment or developing business partnerships with non-Indigenous groups, you’re looked at differently,” Sam said. “As an Indigenous person, representing an Indigenous company, even potential investors don’t always look at you seriously, as a capable entrepreneur no matter how successful we’ve been. That’s a significant barrier for many Indigenous business, and in particular, in the cannabis industry.' Some Canadian provinces, like British Columbia, have been taking extra steps to ensure that the indigenous communities have a space in the legal market to do business. MJBizDaily reports that 'Shelf space in British Columbia’s privately and publicly owned recreational cannabis stores will soon be reserved to highlight products from Indigenous producers. The province announced the Indigenous Shelf Space Program in a Sunday night news release. British Columbia wants to start the program in 2021. “The program will highlight cannabis products produced by B.C. Indigenous producers in BC Cannabis Stores, helping consumers easily identify those products and make purchasing decisions,” according to the announcement.' In September 2021, MJBizDaily reported that 'The Cannabis Act, which established the legal foundation for the newly regulated industry in 2018, handed distribution and sales authority to provinces and territories, with the federal government holding on to cultivation regulation. The law didn’t provide Canada’s First Nations the ability control production or retail on a reservation. AFN’s Teegee, who is also the elected regional chief of the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations, wants that rectified. What’s missing from the law is the “perspective of First Nations to recognize our inherent rights, treaty rights and our ability to govern ourselves in terms of self-determination and sovereignty,” he said. “Quite obviously that was missed in terms of the development of the Cannabis Act.” The law is up for a mandated review later this year, so Teegee says now is an “opportune time” to consider amendments.'

Contrast the decisiveness of Justin Trudeau with the procrastination of the Mexican government. It has been years now since the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that cannabis prohibition violated the fundamental rights of the citizen. The Mexican government, working hand in hand with the drug cartels of Mexico and the corrupt politicians and elites of the US has repeatedly stalled the legislature that will make legalized cannabis a reality for the common man. The legalization of cannabis in Mexico will be a huge setback for the heroin, cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine producing drug cartels in Mexico and the consumers of these drugs in the biggest market for them - the elites of the US across the border. The UNODC World Drug Report 2020 states that 'According to United States authorities, most of the fentanyls destined for the North American market have been manufactured in China in recent years, from where they were either shipped directly to the United States, mostly through postal services, or were first shipped to Mexico and, to a lesser extent, Canada and then smuggled into the United States. However, after the introduction by China in May 2019 of drug controls based on generic legislation with regard to the fentanyls, which effectively brought more than 1,400 known fentanyl analogues under national control in China, early signs suggest that fewer fentanyls were smuggled from China to North America. At the same time, attempts to manufacture fentanyl and its analogues inside North America are increasing, notably in Mexico, by means of a method using precursor chemicals smuggled into the subregion from East Asia and South Asia.' Mexico grows some of the best cannabis in the world and has a long history of cannabis cultivation and usage. Mexico legalizing cannabis now poses a threat to the cannabis producing legalized markets in the US. For Canada, it presents an opportunity where sun-grown cannabis from Mexico can be imported. The partnerships that can be formed between Mexico, Canada and the US through the trade of cannabis and the associated industries that can bloom will create a global cannabis trading front that can serve not just North America but Europe as well. This will devastate the petrochemical, construction, alcohol, tobacco, paper, non-biodegradable plastic, arms, synthetic pharmaceutical, chemical pesticide and fertilizer, synthetic fabrics, and other industries that are the means of the ruling elites in these nations to oppress the working classes, the poor and the indigenous communities. This trade front will dampen the systemic violence that emerges and spreads from this region across the world. BNN Bloomberg reported that 'Former Mexican President Vicente Fox expects cannabis will be a part of the new North American free-trade deal following the country's Supreme Court decision to loosen some of the rules on how the drug can be consumed. "Cannabis has to be part of the trading between United States, Canada and Mexico," Fox said in a broadcast interview. "Canada is an open market for cannabis, so, too is Mexico today. For the moment today for medical use, in September for recreational use."' It is comical that politicians who do nothing to further cannabis legalization in their countries when in power - in fact they actively oppose it - then become part of cannabis businesses when they step down from office and lobby the current ruling dispensation to legalize cannabis. This is common behavior among the political elites - especially in Mexico and the US. The Mexican government has repeatedly missed deadlines set by itself and the Supreme Court to put in place legislature for legalizing cannabis in the past 7-8 years. In April 2021 the Mexican government requested extensions citing Covid and issues with the bill's content. Mexico's rich and powerful drug cartels have friends both in Mexico's government as well as across the border among US politicians and US drug networks. Cannabis was once one of the drugs that Mexico supplied to the US, but with legalization in many US states, the flow of cannabis has now reversed into Mexico. Mexico legalizing cannabis will add pressure on the US federal government to legalize as well, considering then that both its immediate neighbors, Mexico and Canada, have legal cannabis. So, for Mexico's people, who have fought long and hard for the sacred herb, the forces against them are both within and outside their borders. The Mexican government will do all it can to delay legalization. All the government needs to do, as a simple mediate first step, is legalize home growing, release prisoners jailed for cannabis and expunge their records, while getting its commercial sales aspect right at a later time, like so many US states have done. That would be the case if the interests of the people were foremost, but then...

In September 2021, New Frontier Data reported that 'Annual global legal sales of adult-use cannabis are projected to double those of legal medical sales by 2025, despite the higher number of medical markets globally. While 10 countries in the world have approved cannabis for adult use, only six have adopted systems for regulated distribution of high-THC cannabis products. The Netherlands and Spain have each adopted a decriminalized club/social-use model, and others (e.g., South Africa and Jamaica) have decriminalized cannabis for adult use but only through restricted access for certain demographics or religions (e.g., the Rastafarian community), or legalized adult-use programs but without frameworks for distribution to consumers. During calendar year 2020, there were a total of four legally operating adult-use cannabis markets with regulated retail sales, dominated by the U.S. and Canada. Uruguay, the world’s first country to fully legalize and regulate adult-use cannabis, sold roughly 1,700 kg of high-THC cannabis to registered adults, while the Netherlands sold an estimated $104 million worth of high-THC cannabis through its network of retail coffee shops.' Since then, Malta, Luxembourg, South Africa and Germany have legalized cannabis for recreational use. South Africa and Germany are significant because they represent large nations. South Africa, like Canada, shed the British emblem from its national flag in the past to rid itself of the colonial baggage it carried. Germany, one of the wealthiest nations in the world, legalized cannabis after being Europe's largest medical cannabis market for many years. Germany found that there was not sufficient cannabis available for import from nations like Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and Israel to meet the needs of its people. It legalized cannabis to boost domestic production by enabling households to cultivate up to three cannabis plants and allowing the formation of cannabis clubs of up to 100 members who could pool in their resources to cultivate cannabis for their own needs. Germany has not yet legalized cannabis retail but the steps undertaken in April 2024 are significant steps in the right direction. Germany, like Canada, cited the reasons for legalization as reducing crime and protecting the youth though it is the well-being of the entire nation, including the large number of elderly elites, that is as significant a driving force. In December 2020, the UN moved cannabis from its most restrictive Schedule IV to its least restrictive Schedule I. Despite this, only a handful of nations have followed the bold step taken by Uruguay and Canada, showing the extent to which the elite classes have a hold over this world and the rarity of a politician with a spine. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, most politicians are equipped with a prehensile tail that enables them to climb and not a strong spine that enables them to stand erect.

When Justin Trudeau won the elections for the first time, The Hindu reported that 'What Mr. Trudeau got right during the election campaign was his focus on optimism and positivity. Instead of returning the Conservative jibes, he vowed to reclaim Canada’s “core values” — a strong social security system, active participation in international organisations, and an inclusive nationhood. Laying down a clear policy alternative, Mr. Trudeau, who calls himself a “proud feminist”, pledged to revise Mr. Harper’s anti-terrorism laws and end the country’s combat role in the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. He also promised to legalise marijuana.' Trudeau is one of the few political leaders who delivered what he promised. The legalization of cannabis in October 2018 by Justin Trudeau was thus a slap in the face of the global elites and probably the most significant decision taken by a political leader in the history of the human race. It dealt a body blow to the rigid class and caste systems that exist in every country of the world through which the elites dominate and oppress the vast majority of the population. It is the most significant step taken to restore the balance of nature and human society. At the time of legalization, former Canadian PM Mulrooney is reported as stating '“This seems to be an opportunity for redemption by governments toward their citizens, on a par that is rarely equaled,” he said. “This is a unique opportunity for informed debate and discussion on this issue, because the rewards – for Canadians, Americans and others – can be so bountiful.”' Very few of the global elites have acknowledged the revolutionary change that has undergone Canada under Justin Trudeau. The Conversation reports that 'A highly regarded British think tank focused on reforming drug laws thinks Canada’s legalization and regulation of cannabis has gone well. Transform has been monitoring Canadian reform efforts for some time, and advised the Canadian government and some provinces on how to develop regulations prior to legalization. Its positive views of Canada’s initiatives is a significant contribution in assessing our journey away from criminalization of simple possession and use of recreational drugs.' For this, I consider Justin Trudeau as one of the greatest political leaders that the world has seen, on par with Abraham Lincoln who went against the elites and abolished slavery. The significance of what Trudeau did probably is not something that even he is aware of. Like Manmohan Singh, the Indian Prime Minister who unshackled the Indian economy from the government and license raj and put it on a path of strong economic growth, only to be repeatedly derided by the elites of the country, including the media, said about himself, history will be a better judge of Justin Trudeau's actions than the imbecilic elite upper classes of the world lost in their synthetic pharmaceutical, opioid, alcohol and money stupor...For me, he did his job perfectly and once he was done he stepped down graciously, unlike the hordes of political trash who cling onto their seats of power at all costs and berate him for what he did... 

Related articles

Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article.   

Policies legalizing the use and sale of cannabis products have not led to an increase in marijuana-related hospitalizations, according to data published in the Journal of Addictive Diseases.

Canadian investigators tracked rates of cannabis-related hospitalizations in Alberta in the years prior to and following legalization. Canadian lawmakers legalized the use and sale of cannabis flowers for those ages 18 and older in October 2018. Retailers began engaging in the sales of cannabis concentrates and edible products in 2020.

Researchers identified an increase in hospitalizations among those ages 18 to 24 in the period immediately prior to legalization, but they acknowledged that there were no increases in hospitalizations following legalization among representatives of any age group.

“Legalization was not significantly associated with immediate or ongoing changes in hospitalization rates … for either younger or older adults,” the study’s authors concluded.

https://norml.org/news/2024/05/23/canada-no-increase-in-hospitalizations-following-adult-use-legalization/

Canadian exports of medical cannabis hit an all-time high last year as the county’s licensed producers continue to diversify from the competitive local market in favor of pursuing top-line opportunities overseas.

In the 2023-24 fiscal year, Canada exported roughly 218 million Canadian dollars ($189 million) worth of medical marijuana products for commercial and scientific use, MJBizDaily has learned.

That’s an increase of more than 36% from the previous year’s exports of CA$160 million.

https://mjbizdaily.com/canada-medical-cannabis-exports-jump-to-ca220-million-domestic-sales-decline/

A government-appointed panel of experts analyzing Canada’s adult-use legalization law, the Cannabis Act, has recommended the country enable pharmacy access for medical marijuana and reconsider how excise tax is applied to recreational products.

The proposals are part of a final report, 18 months in the making, that lays out 54 recommendations and a number of observations for the federal government to consider.

Some of the recommendations align with industry expectations, such as allowing pharmacies to sell medical cannabis products, which the largest pharmacy chain in the country, Shoppers Drug Mart, had been calling for.

Canada’s cannabis industry expressed disappointment with some other recommendations and omissions.

For instance, the panel called for the government to maintain the limit of 10 milligrams of THC per edibles package, which businesses have long derided as a gift to the illicit market.

https://mjbizdaily.com/canada-cannabis-act-review-suggests-excise-tax-reform-pharmacy-sales/

Canadian recreational cannabis sales were worth 5.07 billion Canadian dollars ($3.8 billion) in 2023, an increase of 12.2% compared to 2022, according to government retail sales data released Thursday.

The year-over-year retail trend marks a slowing growth rate for Canadian cannabis sales as the market matures, more than five years after adult-use legalization in October 2018.

The vast majority of growth in legal cannabis sales comes from consumers transitioning from the illicit market, Poulos said.

Going into 2024, the illicit market still controls roughly 40% of cannabis sales in Canada, he estimates.

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadian-recreational-cannabis-sales-surpass-ca5-billion-in-2023/

Canada’s federally regulated marijuana industry captured more illicit-market share than ever in 2023, the government’s annual Canadian Cannabis Survey suggests.

Illicit-market capture is a crucial metric for legal cannabis businesses as it represents their actual total addressable market (TAM), or the revenue opportunity available for businesses operating on the legal side of the industry.

Outside the United States – where marijuana is legal in many states but is still federally illegal – underground cannabis sales are often included in TAM models.

But they shouldn’t be, since those sales aren’t available to legal businesses.

The latest version of the survey asked Canadians who consumed cannabis in the past 12 months where they obtained their products from: 69% reported they “always” obtained their marijuana products from a legal or licensed source.

That’s a huge increase from the 48% who reported “always” obtaining their cannabis from legal sources in 2022.

https://mjbizdaily.com/69-percent-of-canadian-cannabis-consumers-always-buy-legal-products/

Amidst the growing cannabis reform across the West, there have been growing conversations surrounding cannabis-induced psychosis, suggesting that regular cannabis use and highly concentrated products may exacerbate mental health symptoms as access increases.

However, a recent study published in the International Journal of Drug Policy took a closer look at shifting cannabis policy following Canada’s cannabis legalization in October 2018, ultimately finding no association with legalization and increasing rates of cannabis-related psychosis.

https://hightimes.com/study/study-canadian-mj-legalization-has-no-association-with-increasing-psychosis-rates/

The percentage of young people who say that it is “easy” for them to acquire cannabis has decreased significantly since Canada legalized the adult-use marijuana market, according to data published in the journal Archives of Public Health.

Canadian researchers assessed young people’s perceptions surrounding the availability of cannabis products. They determined that the percentage of underage youth reporting that cannabis was easy to access decreased by 27 percent from 2018 – the year Canada legalized cannabis markets nationwide – to 2020. Self-reported marijuana consumption by young people also decreased during this period.

The study’s authors concluded: “While there has been a growing number of studies focused on examining changes in cannabis use among Canadian youth since the onset of the Cannabis Act, and more recently since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there appears to be a paucity of research dedicated to examining changes in youth perceptions of cannabis availability over the same period of time. In response, this study provides unique and novel evidence of how youth perceptions of cannabis access have changed since the onset of the Cannabis Act. … Our data suggest that in our large samples of youth, perceptions of cannabis access as being easy has declined in prevalence since legalization and through the early and ongoing pandemic response period.”

https://norml.org/news/2023/12/21/survey-fewer-young-people-say-cannabis-is-easy-to-access-post-legalization/

The adoption of cannabis legalization in Canada has not been associated with significant upticks in either marijuana use by young people or in the percentage of people experiencing adverse cannabis-related consequences, according to longitudinal data published in the journal JAMA Open Network.

A team of investigators from Canada and the United States assessed cannabis consumption trends in a cohort of at-risk young adults (ages 19 to 23) during the years immediately preceding and following legalization. Canada legalized the use and retail sale of marijuana products to those ages 18 and older in 2018.

Researchers reported, “Individuals who used cannabis more frequently pre-legalization significantly decreased their use and cannabis-related consequences post-legalization.” By contrast, those who had no history of cannabis use prior to legalization typically reported engaging in the limited use of marijuana use following legalization. However, this use was not associated with adverse consequences.

https://norml.org/news/2023/10/05/study-no-significant-changes-in-cannabis-use-adverse-consequences-among-high-risk-young-adults-following-legalization/

A recent study of Canadian stores shows that proximity might be a key to that equation.

The research found that people who lived less than about 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) from the closest regulated marijuana retailer were more likely to source cannabis from a legal store.

Experts agree that cannabis retailers should take into account store location and density during their planning.

https://mjbizdaily.com/access-to-cannabis-stores-varies-widely-across-usa-and-canada/

Amid declining medical cannabis sales in Canada’s domestic market and cutthroat competition in the adult-use industry, some licensed producers are increasingly looking to overseas markets for a financial lifeline.

Exports continued to surge in the 2022-23 fiscal year, with Canada shipping medical cannabis products worth 160 million Canadian dollars ($118 million) overseas, a 50% increase over 2021-22’s CA$107 million, according to figures shared by Health Canada with MJBizDaily.

David Hyde, CEO of Hyde Advisory & Investments in Toronto, believes Canada will have a leg up over competing export countries for a few more years.

“For the next two or three years, at least, we’re going to see continually increasing medical numbers (exports),” he said in

a phone interview.

The brisk export growth comes as domestic sales of medical cannabis continue to contract.

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadian-cannabis-exports-surge-50-percent-to-ca160-million-in-2022-23/

Report Highlights:

The Canadian hemp sector continues to be driven by the food and nutrition markets, despite the 2018 regulatory changes that legalized recreational cannabis, and opened the potential for new markets for hemp-extracted cannabinoids. The production and distribution of cannabinoids and cannabinoid containing-products (including CBD) remain highly regulated, although Health Canada is considering a possible regulatory framework for cannabis health products (such as CBD-containing products) for

humans and animals.

https://apps.fas.usda.gov/newgainapi/api/Report/DownloadReportByFileName?fileName=Update+on+Industrial+Hemp+Production+Trade+and+Regulation_Ottawa_Canada_CA2023-0034.pdf

A history of cannabis use is not negatively associated with survival rates among patients receiving liver transplants, according to data published in the Canadian Liver Journal.

Canadian researchers reviewed the relevant literature on cannabis use and transplantation survival rates. Eight studies involving over 5,500 subjects were included in the review.

Authors determined, “[C]annabis use has not been associated with poor patient outcomes in terms of 1-, 3-, and 5-year patient survivals. Therefore, liver transplant candidates who use cannabis should not be denied access to transplantation.”

https://norml.org/news/2023/08/03/analysis-cannabis-use-doesnt-negatively-impact-survival-outcomes-in-liver-transplant-patients/

Those who consume unregulated opioids frequently report using cannabis to mitigate their drug cravings, according to data published in the International Journal of Drug Policy.

Canadian investigators assessed cannabis use trends among a cohort of 205 consumers of non-prescription opioids. Many of the cohort were IV drug users and at-risk youth.

Nearly half of the study’s participants (45 percent) acknowledged using cannabis to manage opioid cravings. Of those, 62 percent “reported self-assessed decreases in opioid use during periods of cannabis use.” Subjects suffering from chronic pain were most likely to engage in opioid substitution.

Authors concluded: “In the present study, we observed that cannabis use to manage opioid cravings was significantly associated with self-assessed decreases in opioid use during periods of cannabis use among a structurally marginalized population of PWUD [people who use unregulated opioids]. The sub-analysis indicated that this association was mainly driven by those living with moderate to severe pain. … This suggests that future studies of cannabis substitution for opioid use should measure and analyze the impact of pain, as not doing so may lead to equivocal findings when the effects of cannabis substitution may vary based on the prevalence of chronic pain.”

https://norml.org/news/2023/08/03/study-users-of-non-prescription-opioids-frequently-turn-to-cannabis-to-reduce-drug-cravings/

'A highly regarded British think tank focused on reforming drug laws thinks Canada’s legalization and regulation of cannabis has gone well.

Transform has been monitoring Canadian reform efforts for some time, and advised the Canadian government and some provinces on how to develop regulations prior to legalization. Its positive views of Canada’s initiatives is a significant contribution in assessing our journey away from criminalization of simple possession and use of recreational drugs.'

https://theconversation.com/the-verdict-canadas-legalization-of-cannabis-is-a-success-141968

'To begin with, some of the blame can be assigned to regulators. In Ontario, provincial regulators stood by an ineffective lottery licensing system for dispensaries until Dec. 31, 2019, before abandoning it for a more traditional application and vetting process. This lottery system left Ontario completely unprepared -- a mere 24 stores were open by mid-October 2019 -- and led to significant supply bottlenecks in the region.

Secondly, licensed produces are partly to blame. Without any precedent to a legal marijuana industry in an industrialized country, pot stocks expanded their production capacity and made acquisitions without really understanding the ramifications of their decisions. In recent months, dried flower has flooded a market that simply doesn't have enough dispensaries to sell it.

And third, the black market remains a nuisance for the Canadian cannabis industry. With taxes being levied on legal weed purchases, the only way for pot stocks to be price-competitive with the illicit industry is by producing value-branded product. While these value brands can help lure in legal-channel consumers, they've been absolutely wrecking margins and the push toward profitability (see Cronos and OrganiGram).'

https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/08/10/canadas-marijuana-industry-has-a-new-problem.aspx

'Edibles inventory has risen 85% since March, whereas sales for medical and nonmedical use grew only 29%.

Edibles, including beverages, earned 4.5% of the market share in Ontario, 4.9% in British Columbia and 5.3% in Alberta, during the first six months those items were available in Canada, according to data collected by Seattle analytics firm Headset'

https://mjbizdaily.com/inventory-growth-of-canadian-cannabis-edibles-beverages-far-outpaces-sales/

'Canadian retail sales of adult-use cannabis crested yet again in June, increasing 7.9% over the record set in May.

Monthly retail sales grew in every Canadian province, reaching nearly 201.1 million Canadian dollars ($152.1 million), new figures from Statistics Canada show.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadian-recreational-marijuana-sales-reach-record-ca201-million-in-june/

'Separately, federal prosecutors are now also being instructed to criminally prosecute only the most serious drug possession offences that raise public safety concerns and to find alternatives outside the criminal justice system for the rest, including simple possession cases.

That directive is contained in a new guideline issued by the director of public prosecutions, Kathleen Roussel, who is independent from the federal Justice Department.

"You cannot arrest your way out of an opioid crisis," Tam said Friday, applauding the directive as a "step in the right direction."'

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/talks-needed-on-decriminalizing-hard-drugs-to-address-opioid-crisis-tam-says-1.5075176

'The Canadian Chamber of Commerce International Cannabis Council and the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp (ATACH) are pleased to announce that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to better support Canadian and American companies seeking to capitalize on the exponential growth of the international cannabis market.

Canada and the U.S. are playing a leading role in the development of this nascent global industry. Canada is the first large developed economy to legalize recreational cannabis for adult use and boasts some of the most innovative recreational and medical cannabis producers in the world. Communities across Canada have been re-vitalized through investments by the regulated cannabis industry, with production and processing facilities that provide thousands of Canadians with good-paying, middle-class jobs. The cannabis industry has already contributed an additional $8.3B to Canada’s GDP as of July 2019. The U.S. market is poised to exceed $15B in sales in 2020 with several new state-level markets poised to legalize'

http://chamber.ca/media/news-releases/20200824-canadian-chamber-of-commerce-international-cannabis-council-and-american-trade-association/

'The lineup of five drink brands unveiled Tuesday includes both CBD and THC products.

Most contain 2.5 milligrams to 5 milligrams of THC, characterized as a “medium dose.”

The “XMG” beverage brand contains 10 milligrams of THC, the maximum allowed under Canadian cannabis regulations.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/hexo-molson-coors-launch-truss-cannabis-beverage-portfolio/

'A new analysis of cannabis research funding in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom has found that $1.56 billion was directed to the topic between 2000 and 2018—with about half of the money spent on understanding the potential harms of the recreational drug. Just over $1 billion came from the biggest funder, the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which doled out far more money to research cannabis misuse and its negative effects than on using cannabis and cannabis-derived chemicals as a therapeutic drug'

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/08/cannabis-research-database-shows-how-us-funding-focuses-harms-drug

'Estimated expenditures on unlicensed adult-use cannabis fell to 785 million Canadian dollars ($600 million) in the latest quarter, almost half what they were before Canada legalized marijuana in late 2018.

The Statistics Canada data shows that spending on recreational cannabis products via regulated channels reached CA$648 million in the same period.

Estimated expenditures on cannabis products for medical use approached CA$157 million, according to the data.

The underground market is the biggest competitor for legal cannabis businesses.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/illegal-cannabis-expenditures-at-multiyear-low-in-canada-data-shows/

'Canadian household spending on legal cannabis in the second quarter of the year outpaced the illicit market for the first time, marking a significant milestone for the licensed pot industry.

Statistics Canada said Friday that Canadian household spending on recreational cannabis reached $648 million in the second quarter of 2020, an increase of 74 per cent from the same period last year. Meanwhile, spending on medical cannabis was flat at $155 million in the second quarter, StatsCan said.

Canadian household spending on illicit cannabis fell to a new low of $784 million in the second quarter, StatsCan added. Taken together, the legal cannabis market now accounts for 50.5 per cent of all pot-related spending in Canada. '

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/legal-cannabis-spending-outpaces-illicit-market-for-first-time-in-q2-statscan-1.1486347

'“While we have been able to work through many barriers, I believe they are systemic. Whether accessing investment or developing business partnerships with non-Indigenous groups, you’re looked at differently,” Sam said.

“As an Indigenous person, representing an Indigenous company, even potential investors don’t always look at you seriously, as a capable entrepreneur no matter how successful we’ve been.

That’s a significant barrier for many Indigenous business, and in particular, in the cannabis industry.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/4-percent-of-canadian-cannabis-licenses-are-indigenous-affiliated/

'“I think a traditional pressed hash is a safe reintroduction back into cannabis for people who have maybe been sitting on the sidelines for a while and who maybe smoked it in high school and college,” he said.

Vennat believes a successful concentrates strategy can involve “cooking with what’s in the fridge.”

“In essence, what you’re doing is you’re taking what, in many ways, is considered a byproduct of your cultivation practice, and you’re turning it into a commercial consumer packaged good.”'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canada-cannabis-concentrate-market-slowly-comes-to-life-revealing-producers-strategies/

'Statistics Canada released July retail sales for the country this morning, with very positive data for the cannabis sector, as overall cannabis sales grew 15% sequentially to C$231.6 million, up 116% from a year ago. The report detailed substantial growth in Ontario, which grew 23% to C$60.3 million, with the other large provinces, Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec all experiencing solid growth as well'

https://www.newcannabisventures.com/canadian-cannabis-sales-accelerate-in-july-to-232-million/

'Shelf space in British Columbia’s privately and publicly owned recreational cannabis stores will soon be reserved to highlight products from Indigenous producers.

The province announced the Indigenous Shelf Space Program in a Sunday night news release.

British Columbia wants to start the program in 2021.

“The program will highlight cannabis products produced by B.C. Indigenous producers in BC Cannabis Stores, helping consumers easily identify those products and make purchasing decisions,” according to the announcement.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/british-columbia-to-reserve-shelf-space-for-indigenous-cannabis-producers/

'The history of how 0.3% became the THC limit for hemp goes back to Canada and various countries across Europe, who first adopted that standard for hemp farmers in the 1990s. When farmers in the US began to lobby for the right to farm hemp, they followed suit.

“We thought ‘well, we’ve got to go with what the standard is in Canada and Europe because it was going to be harder to make an argument that you needed a different standard,’” said Eric Steenstra, President and Co-Founder of US hemp advocacy group Vote Hemp. “It just sort of became a de facto standard, even though it wasn’t really based on any kind of science.” '

https://www.leafly.com/news/industry/hemp-testing-hot-must-be-destroyed

'Ontario’s government-operated Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) claims it is undercutting illicit marijuana prices with an average price of 7.05 Canadian dollars ($5.30) per gram of dried flower, taxes included, during its first fiscal quarter.

In comparison, the average price for a gram of marijuana from illicit mail-order dispensaries was CA$7.98, the OCS said in a new quarterly report covering April, May and June.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/ontario-government-cannabis-prices-beating-illicit-market-report-says/

'Results

With just one exception, we find that both Black and Indigenous people are over-represented amongst those arrested for cannabis possession across the five cities examined.

Conclusions

Canadian cannabis legalization lacks measures to redress the racialized harms caused by the war on drugs because the full extent of these harms remains largely unknown. Broader collection and dissemination of disaggregated criminal justice data is needed in the Canadian context in order to inform criminal justice and social policy.'

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955395920302760

'Results: A total of 22 studies were reviewed. There was strong evidence for significant improvement in the neurologic symptoms of spasms, tremors, spasticity, chorea, and quality of sleep following treatment with medical marijuana. Analysis of specific motor symptoms revealed significant improvement after treatment in tremors and rigidity. Furthermore, all pretreatment and post-treatment measures indicated a significant increase in average number of hours slept.

Conclusion: Larger scale studies are warranted to test the benefits of medical marijuana in HD [Huntington Disease] patients. In the meanwhile, clinicians may consider prescribing medical marijuana as part of their strategy for better symptomatic treatment of patients with HD.'

https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/jpps/index.php/JPPS/article/view/30967

'Many of the patients enrolled in Canada’s medical cannabis program report reducing their alcohol intake, according to data published in The International Journal of Drug Policy.

A team of researchers with the Canadian Institute for Substance Abuse Research and the University of Victoria, School of Public Health and Social Policy surveyed nearly 1,000 federally authorized medical cannabis patients. Survey participants reported on their use of alcohol prior to and following their enrollment in the nation’s medical cannabis access program.

Investigators reported that 44 percent of respondents reported “decreases in alcohol frequency” following their participation in the cannabis access program. Of those, 85 percent reported decreasing the number of drinks they consumed per week, while 18 percent reported consuming no alcohol during the 30-day period prior to taking the survey.'

https://norml.org/news/2020/10/22/canada-medical-cannabis-enrollees-often-report-reductions-in-alcohol-use

'Boodram said virtual cannabis inspections could ultimately open the door to more inspections, more often. “We’ve all seen that there’s such a large number of license holders now. There’s over 500,” she said. “And each regional (inspection) team obviously has a finite number of staff.” More inspections could be welcomed by some cannabis license holders, Boodram suggested. “A lot of them actually really do like having inspections, because it ensures that their company is moving forward in a compliant manner, before they get too far down the rabbit hole.”

Canada’s current federal government has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from government activities by 80% between 2005 levels and 2020.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/health-canada-aims-to-cut-emissions-with-virtual-cannabis-inspection-pilot/

'Medical cannabis products in Canada should be dispensed to patients inside pharmacies – a natural progression for the sector that would lead to improved practitioner oversight, according to the point person for medical marijuana at Shoppers Drug Mart, the largest pharmacy chain in the country.

Ken Weisbrod, the outgoing vice president of business development/cannabis strategy, noted that Canada stands alone by excluding pharmacies from medical cannabis distribution.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/shoppers-drug-mart-exec-ken-weisbrod-discusses-medical-marijuana-in-canada/

'“In Europe, CBD has been accepted and encouraged as a wellness product, whereas in Canada, it’s still scheduled and hidden from sight,” she says. “I think as Canada starts to open up its regulatory approaches and adopt CBD under a wellness regime, we will be able to proliferate and the marketplace will be similar to Europe.”'

https://www.forbes.com/sites/amandasiebert/2020/10/30/canadian-cannabis-industry-pros-dish-on-pivoting-to-europe-spoiler-it-has-a-lot-to-do-with-regulations/

'Health Canada data shows seed sales rose eight times between February and June this year. Sales fell off again at the end of summer but remained relatively strong through August.

Most provinces allow home cultivation of four plants per household.

“To some extent, you can attribute it to people being at home and they have time. People are stressed out and they’re burning through more product,” BC Northern Lights founder Tarren Wolfe told Marijuana Business Daily.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/grow-your-own-cannabis-businesses-in-canada-enjoy-record-sales/

'Total tax revenue reported by the cannabis industry is $306.7 million for 3rd Quarter returns due by November 2, 2020. This does not include tax revenue collected by each jurisdiction. Previously reported revenue for 2nd Quarter 2020 returns was revised to $260.2 million, which included $135.0 million in cannabis excise tax, $30.7 million in cultivation tax, and $94.5 million in sales tax. Revisions to quarterly data are the result of amended and late returns, and other tax return adjustments. Cannabis tax revenue data is available on the CDTFA Open Data Portal.

Since January 2018, total program revenue to date is $1.81 billion, which includes $906.4 million in cannabis excise tax, $223.3 million in cultivation tax, and $682.9 million in sales tax.'

https://www.cdtfa.ca.gov/news/20-14.htm

'Highlights

• Legal recreational market share rose from 8% to 24% over the first 12 months

• Legal sales were limited by shortages of retailers and dry cannabis, but not oils

• Provincially, legal recreational shares in month 12 ranged from 13% to 70%

• Legal sales can succeed if given sufficient supplies, stores, and time'

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955395920303662

'“The results of the Tilray Observational Patient Study (TOPS) add to a growing body of evidence that cannabis use can lead to a reduction in the use of prescription drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and other substances” Philippe Lucas, lead study author, said in a press release.

“In light of the devastating impacts of the opioid overdose crisis in Canada and around the world, research examining the potential influence of cannabis on opioid use may be of particular importance to public health, and these findings could inform harm reduction strategies to mitigate the significant morbidity and mortality associated with opioids,” he said.

There were also similar reductions in the four other drug categories that the study investigated: non-opioid pain medication, anti-depressants, benzodiazepines and anti-seizure drugs.'

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/medical-marijuana-leads-to-reduced-opioid-use-new-study-finds/

'The 220,461 kilograms (221 metric tons) of new cannabis is about 50% more than the previous monthly record, in October 2019, likely owing to the first outdoor yields.

The ballooning inventory is expected to put more pressure on mass producers to cut production capacity until supplies of specific products sought by consumers more closely meet demand.

The inventory overhang also could put added downward pressure on cannabis prices, which have been falling steadily since legalization in late 2018.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadas-croptober-surge-pushes-cannabis-inventory-over-1-million-kilograms/

'Patients authorized to use medical cannabis significantly reduce or eliminate their use of opioids over time, according to longitudinal data published in the Canadian Journal of Anaesthesia.

A team of Canadian investigators assessed self-reported opioid consumption patterns over time in a cohort of authorized medical cannabis patients who suffered from pain-related issues.

Consistent with numerous other studies, researchers reported that many subjects tapered their use of opioids following medical cannabis initiation. “The proportion of individuals who reported using opioids decreased by half” over a period of twelve months, they determined.'

https://norml.org/blog/2021/01/21/study-nearly-half-of-medical-cannabis-users-cease-using-opioids-for-pain-after-twelve-months/

'Authors concluded: “The findings of this 42-month time-series analysis revealed a steady and significantly consistent decline in the mean and median MED [morphine equivalent dose] per claim for public payer drug plans. However, when comparing the pre- versus post-legalization time periods, the decline in the mean MED per claim was approximately 5.4 times greater in the period following legalization (22.3 vs. 4.1 mg per claim). In addition, total public payer monthly opioid spending reductions averaged $Can95,000 per month before October 2018 [when adult-use sales were legalized] compared to $Can267,000 per month following the legalization of cannabis. Similar findings were also observed within private drug plans. … The findings of this study add to the growing body of evidence that easier access to cannabis for patients with pain may reduce opioid use and partially offset expenditures for both public and private drug plans.”'

https://norml.org/news/2021/02/04/opioid-prescriptions-decline-in-canada-following-enactment-of-adult-use-marijuana-legalization

'Spending on nonmedical cannabis products in the third quarter of last year reached 824 million Canadian dollars ($644 million), according to the updated figures.

Unlicensed nonmedical sales, by comparison, were estimated to be CA$754 million in the same period.

George Smitherman, CEO of industry group Cannabis Council of Canada, said the numbers are encouraging because there is more growth to come.

“It illustrates the success of one of the policy goals, which is bringing (cannabis) sales into the legal framework,” he said.

The underground market is in retreat.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/legal-recreational-cannabis-sales-in-canada-outstrip-illicit-spending-for-first-time/

'Canadian sales of legal recreational cannabis totaled 2.6 billion Canadian dollars ($2.08 billion) in 2020, as December sales increased from a relatively sluggish November.

Licensed marijuana retailers across the country sold CA$298.4 million worth of cannabis in December, up 14.3% from November, according to new retail trade data released Friday by national data agency Statistics Canada.

Canada’s 2020 total represents a 120% increase over 2019 cannabis sales, which were valued at CA $1.2 billion.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canada-tallies-ca2-6-billion-in-cannabis-sales-for-2020-up-120-over-2019/

'Researchers reported that cannabis use among pelvic pain patients rose 32 percent following the legalization of marijuana in Canada. Cannabis users were more likely than non-users to be taking fewer prescription medications, including anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids – a finding that is consistent with dozens of prior studies of other patient populations.

Authors concluded: “Post-legalization, cannabis users were less likely to require daily opioids compared with cannabis users before legalization. The role, perceived benefits, and possible risks of cannabis for pelvic pain require further investigation.”'

https://norml.org/news/2021/04/08/study-fewer-patients-with-pelvic-pain-taking-opioids-following-cannabis-legalization

'While Toronto is the leader in Canada when it comes to nominal cannabis sales, the nation’s largest city by population is nowhere near the top when it comes to per-person spending on recreational marijuana.

Torontonians spent CA$50.95 per person on legal cannabis products last year on average, ahead of Montreal, Gatineau, Quebec, and last-place Vancouver, British Columbia.

Edmonton and Calgary in Alberta were the leaders with per-person cannabis spending totaling CA $128.85 and CA$99.61, respectively.

Winnipeg, Manitoba, was third at CA$90.26 per person.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/how-much-legal-cannabis-is-being-sold-in-canadas-biggest-cities/

'Canadians purchased 109 million Canadian dollars ($87 million) worth of recreational cannabis edibles in 2020, the first full year they were available in the country, according to data recently published by Statistics Canada.

While that’s only 4.2% of all regulated cannabis sales last year, experts see significant growth happening in the coming year as inventory and selection improve and prices continue to fall.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadian-cannabis-edibles-sales-top-ca100-million-in-first-year/

'Business intelligence from Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN), an enterprise software, leading compliance technology provider, and developer of the cannabis industry's first seed-to-sale enterprise resource planning (ERP) software technology (MJ Platform®), showed that Tuesday, April 20, a widely-popular yet unofficial "holiday" celebrating cannabis consumption, was the highest sales day for retail cannabis ever recorded, with approximately $111,815,824 in medical and adult-use sales. The 5-day period surrounding the holiday (4/16 - 4/20) grossed over $373,787,685.'

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/akerna-flash-report-reaches-new-high-420-cannabis-sales-totaled-over-111-8-million-marking-the-most-profitable-day-for-cannabis-in-legal-retail-history-301278765.html

'In 2020, nearly 70 percent of cannabis consumers who participated in the study reported obtaining cannabis from a legal source, up from 47 percent in 2019. (Because the survey included respondents ages 15 and older, some subjects would be unable to obtain cannabis from any legal sources – which require users to be at least 18 years of age.)

“One of the goals of legalization was the elimination (or substantial reduction) of the cannabis black (illegal) market and consequently keeping profits from criminals and organized crime,” the author wrote. “According to this study, there is some evidence that this may be working.”'

https://norml.org/news/2021/04/29/canada-far-fewer-consumers-accessing-illegally-sourced-cannabis-following-enactment-of-adult-use-legalization

'The maker of Samuel Adams beer and Truly Hard seltzer is moving into Canada's cannabis beverages market.

The Boston Beer Co. says it will create a subsidiary to serve as a Canadian research and innovation hub for non-alcoholic cannabis beverages.'

https://www.tricitynews.com/the-mix/samuel-adams-maker-to-launch-cannabis-beverages-subsidiary-in-canada-3785734

'The gap between Canada’s legal and illicit cannabis markets continues to widen, the latest Statistics Canada data suggests.

Household spending on adult-use cannabis products in regulated channels grew to 918 million Canadian dollars ($800 million) in the final quarter of 2020, or CA$204 million more than the estimated amount spent on illicit cannabis in the same period.

Spending on legal recreational cannabis overtook illegal transactions for the first time in the previous quarter, when regulated expenditures outpaced approximate illicit sales by CA$59 million.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadas-legal-cannabis-market-continues-to-erode-illicit-markets-share/

'To put that into global perspective, Veterans Affairs Canada’s fiscal year spending on medical marijuana exceeded Australia’s medical marijuana market in 2020, which was estimated to be worth approximately CA$100 million.

And the 14,463 kilograms (31,885 pounds) of cannabis reimbursed by Veterans Affairs Canada in 2020 was ahead of the European Union’s legal flower market that year, which dispensed approximately 10,000 kilograms.

That points to how small some of the largest medical cannabis markets outside North America remain, and how much room there is for growth.

Medical cannabis uptake by Canadian veterans comes as overall spending in Canada on the medicine has largely stagnated in recent years.

Veterans account for about a quarter of Canada’s medical marijuana market by spending'

https://mjbizdaily.com/medical-cannabis-reimbursements-for-canadian-veterans-soar-past-ca100-million/

'Findings

For females, legalization was associated with a step-effect decrease of 4.56 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.32, 5.81; P < 0.001) police-reported cannabis-related criminal offences per day, an effect equivalent to a 64.6% (standard error [SE] = 33.5%) reduction. For males, legalization was associated with a drop of 12.73 (95% CI = 8.82, 16.64; P < 0.001) cannabis-related offences per day, equaling a decrease of 57.7% (SE = 22.6%). Results were inconclusive as to whether there were associations between cannabis legalization and patterns of property crimes or violent crimes.

Conclusions

Implementation of the Cannabis Act in Canada in 2018 appears to have been associated with decreases of 55%–65% in cannabis-related crimes among male and female youth.'

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/add.15535

'Quebec’s government-run cannabis store operator, the Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC), generated net income of 66.5 million Canadian dollars ($55 million) in its recently concluded fiscal year, according to its annual report.

The SQDC reported annual sales CA$537 million for the 2020-21 fiscal year, a substantial increase over the previous year’s CA$ $311.6 million in sales.

The SQDC attributed the increased revenue to its expanding network of stores, which grew by 25 points of sale last year to 66 outlets.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/quebecs-cannabis-store-operator-posts-ca66-5-million-profit/

'April’s online and in-store sales of regulated cannabis amounted to 309.7 million Canadian dollars ($251 million), 3.8% higher than March’s CA$298.3 million, according to Statistics Canada’s latest figures.

British Columbia led provinces with a gain of CA$5.4 million, or 13%, over the previous month. Sales in Vancouver, the biggest city in B.C., grew a whopping 30% month–on-month to CA$16.7 million in April, a major improvement for a city which has struggled to convert consumer spending to the regulated market.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canada-posts-second-straight-month-of-record-cannabis-sales/

'A team of researchers from Canada and Italy assessed the safety and efficacy of cannabis in a cohort of 214 Canadian patients authorized under the law to use marijuana products. Investigators assessed patients’ symptoms and quality of life prior to using medical cannabis and six weeks after initiating treatment. The majority of patients participating in the study were over 50 years of age.

Among patients suffering from chronic pain conditions, 76 percent reported improvements in their symptoms after six weeks. Patients with post-traumatic stress also reported significant improvements in their quality of life following the short-term use of medical cannabis. Subjects primarily diagnosed with sleep disorders also reported marked improvements in their symptoms.'

https://norml.org/news/2021/06/24/study-most-patients-report-symptom-improvements-following-short-term

'Topical cannabis products, such as skin creams, lotions, bath bombs, massage oils and lubricants, became legal in Canada in late 2019, but the category remains small relative to other cannabis-derived products that hit the market at the same time, including vape pens, edibles and beverages.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadian-cannabis-topical-makers-hope-to-boost-growth-in-niche-category/

'By April 20 Ontario had 613 stores, surpassing Alberta to have the most marijuana outlets of any Canadian province.

As of last week, that number had grown to 800 authorized retailers open for business, according to OCS.

The average distance from consumers’ homes to a licensed marijuana store decreased from 9.5 kilometers (5.9 miles) in the third quarter of OCS’ fiscal year to 6.5 kilometers at the end of March, OCS reported.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/ontario-cannabis-store-growing-competition-may-cause-store-closures/

'Former Mexican President Vicente Fox expects cannabis will be a part of the new North American free-trade deal following the country's Supreme Court decision to loosen some of the rules on how the drug can be consumed.

"Cannabis has to be part of the trading between United States, Canada and Mexico," Fox said in a broadcast interview. "Canada is an open market for cannabis, so, too is Mexico today. For the moment today for medical use, in September for recreational use."'

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/cannabis-could-become-part-of-nafta-2-0-trade-deal-former-mexican-president-1.1626313

'Sales in the largest provincial market of Ontario increased by 2.8% on a month-over-month basis to $111.2 million. Ontario’s sales accounted for more than 35% of Canada’s total legal cannabis sales in the month.

The second-largest provincial market, Alberta, posted CA$59.7 million worth of cannabis sales for May, 1.4% higher than April.

Sales in Quebec, the third-largest market, grew by 1.6% over April to CA$49.6 million.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadian-cannabis-sales-reach-new-record-of-ca313-million-in-may/

'Cannabis producers in Canada have sold less than 20% of their production since the country launched adult-use sales in October 2018, according to an MJBizDaily analysis.

The newest data – which runs through 2020 – implies that most of the cannabis produced from 2018 through last year was either stored in inventory or destroyed, and less than one-fifth ended up in retail stores.

That disconnect likely helps explain how the largest Canadian cannabis producers, which account for most of the industry’s production, together have lost more than 11 billion Canadian dollars ($8.8 billion) cumulatively.

Some industry experts blame poor-quality cannabis for the sales shortfall.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadian-cannabis-producers-have-sold-less-than-20-percent-of-output-since-2018/

'Investigators reported: “We found that the rate of positive cannabinoid screen results among patients with trauma referred directly to our trauma service was similar in the 3 months before and [in] the 3 months after the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada. … In the subgroup of patients whose mechanism of trauma was a motor vehicle collision, there was no difference in the rate of positive toxicology screen results or positive cannabinoid screen results between the two periods.”

They concluded, “These preliminary single-center data showing no increased rates of cannabis use in patients with trauma after legalization are reassuring.”'

https://norml.org/news/2021/07/29/canada-no-uptick-in-trauma-patients-testing-positive-for-cannabis-post-legalization

'They conclude: “In the lead up to legalization, professional associations … suggested that legalization posed a threat to public health, advocated for the legal age for cannabis use to be set at a minimum age of 21 or 25, or that Canada should not legalize at all because it would place youth at greater risk of harm. With such categorical fears now shown to be largely unfounded, this should provide the basis to move forward on more nuanced grounds. … [O]n the balance, cannabis legalization – especially when considering the severe adverse social impacts of criminalization, and especially for youth – continues to offer the potential to better protect and achieve consequential net benefits to public health and welfare of cannabis users and society at large.”'

https://norml.org/blog/2021/08/17/analysis-marijuana-legalization-opponents-fears-have-not-come-to-fruition-in-canada/

'Retail sales of legal adult-use cannabis in Canada increased to nearly 318.7 million Canadian dollars ($246.9 million) in June, growing more than 1.7% from the previous record set in May.

The seasonally unadjusted national retail sales figure released Friday by Statistics Canada represents a fourth consecutive month of growth for Canada’s regulated cannabis sector, despite the fact June has one fewer day than May.

Statistics Canada’s sales total for May was revised downward slightly to CA$313.2 million.

Year-over-year, June recreational cannabis sales in Canada increased by 58.5%.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadas-retail-cannabis-sales-grow-to-ca318-7-million-in-june/

'Aurora was among companies from Australia, Canada, Israel and the United Kingdom chosen to provide products, in partnership with French pharmaceutical distributors, for up to 3,000 patients.

The medical marijuana is being supplied by participating companies at their own cost, and neither the government nor patients will have to pay for it.

“The first prescriptions of dried medical cannabis as part of the French pilot program are a significant step toward providing access to patients and will support the destigmatization of medical cannabis in France,” Aurora CEO Miguel Martin said in a statement.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/aurora-sends-first-shipment-of-free-cannabis-to-france/

'Large Canadian cannabis producers are turning to small-batch cultivators to tap into a growing consumer appetite for higher-quality “premium” marijuana products.

To that end, some large licensed producers have entered into partnerships with craft companies. Others have bought them outright, and some are buying craft cannabis in the wholesale market for resale at the retail level.

The rise of small-batch production comes after mass producers spent years and billions of dollars cultivating cannabis, the vast majority of which was ultimately unsaleable. An MJBizDaily analysis found that Canadian LPs destroyed more cannabis than they managed to sell in legal channels from 2018 through 2020.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/how-large-canadian-cannabis-producers-are-leveraging-small-batch-craft-cultivation/

'In the past 12 months, courts across Ontario have withdrawn or stayed 85 per cent of drug possession charges in the system before they ever reached trial, according to public data analyzed by CBC Toronto.

By comparison, 45 per cent of such charges were dropped in 2019, prior to the pandemic.'

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/drug-charges-dropped-unprecedented-rate-ontario-1.6162632

'The Canadian cannabis industry is becoming more fragmented than ever, with the biggest licensed producers continuing to lose market share as a whole, according to a report by Bank of Montreal analyst Tamy Chen.

Citing data from analytics firm Hifyre, the report notes that the top five licensed producers represented less than 40% of the Canadian market in August, down substantially from a year ago when the producers accounted for more than half of all retail sales.

Similarly, the top nine cannabis producers accounted for almost 80% of the market last year, but that has fallen to a combined 62%.

The fragmentation comes despite month after month of record sales across Canada and significant spending on mergers and acquisitions this year, including the blockbuster combination of Tilray and Aphria.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadian-cannabis-industry-increasingly-fragmented-despite-ma/

'Health Canada data says more than 21,000 Canadians have died from opioid-related overdoses since 2016. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, fatalities have reached record-high levels, with about 17 people dying per day last year.

All parties have promised support for measures ranging from harm reduction, including supervised consumption sites, to recovery.'

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/federal-election-opioid-drugs-crisis-1.6171434

'The Canadian province of Ontario, the country’s biggest market with a population of nearly 14.8 million people, now has at least 1,000 licensed cannabis stores.

The government-owned Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS), the monopoly wholesaler to those stores, said in a recent blog post that the 1,000th cannabis retailer was 6 of Spade, a Black-owned business that opened Aug. 20 in Toronto.

The 1,000-store milestone marks a period of rapid market growth in the Ontario market, which initially suffered from a slow cannabis retail rollout that led to an early deficiency in legal retail outlets and correspondingly low sales.

Ontario’s store count finally surpassed the smaller province of Alberta this past April.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadas-biggest-cannabis-market-ontario-reaches-1000-legal-stores/

'The Cannabis Act, which established the legal foundation for the newly regulated industry in 2018, handed distribution and sales authority to provinces and territories, with the federal government holding on to cultivation regulation.

The law didn’t provide Canada’s First Nations the ability control production or retail on a reservation.

AFN’s Teegee, who is also the elected regional chief of the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations, wants that rectified.

What’s missing from the law is the “perspective of First Nations to recognize our inherent rights, treaty rights and our ability to govern ourselves in terms of self-determination and sovereignty,” he said.

“Quite obviously that was missed in terms of the development of the Cannabis Act.”

The law is up for a mandated review later this year, so Teegee says now is an “opportune time” to consider amendments.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadas-cannabis-act-is-leaving-indigenous-entrepreneurs-behind-critics-say/

'Annual global legal sales of adult-use cannabis are projected to double those of legal medical sales by 2025, despite the higher number of medical markets globally.

While 10 countries in the world have approved cannabis for adult use, only six have adopted systems for regulated distribution of high-THC cannabis products. The Netherlands and Spain have each adopted a decriminalized club/social-use model, and others (e.g., South Africa and Jamaica) have decriminalized cannabis for adult use but only through restricted access for certain demographics or religions (e.g., the Rastafarian community), or legalized adult-use programs but without frameworks for distribution to consumers.

During calendar year 2020, there were a total of four legally operating adult-use cannabis markets with regulated retail sales, dominated by the U.S. and Canada. Uruguay, the world’s first country to fully legalize and regulate adult-use cannabis, sold roughly 1,700 kg of high-THC cannabis to registered adults, while the Netherlands sold an estimated $104 million worth of high-THC cannabis through its network of retail coffee shops.'

https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/catching-up-for-lost-time-legal-cannabis-markets-project-to-top-51-billion-globally-by-2025/

'A group of small- and medium-sized Canadian marijuana cultivators is calling on the federal government to reform its cannabis excise tax regime, seeking an end to a flat minimum per-gram tax and other tax adjustments based on a producer’s size.

The Stand For Craft campaign, which launched Wednesday, says it represents “craft (licensed producers), processors, and micro cultivators coming forward to reiterate systemic financial dysfunction in the current excise regime.”

Specifically, the campaign advocates for removal of the 1 Canadian dollar (78 cents)-minimum-per-gram excise tax, while reforming the alternative percentage-based per gram tax.

It calls on the government to apply that percentage-based excise tax based on “different tax tiers” for micro-cultivators, “craft-scale standard growers,” “small to medium cultivation enterprises” and “large cultivators.”'

https://mjbizdaily.com/new-canadian-campaign-seeks-reduced-cannabis-excise-taxes/

'Canadian cannabis companies have picked up the pace to position themselves in the fast-growing markets south of the border – with a number of the deals essentially a wager that the United States will soon legalize marijuana.

The recent deals add up to hundreds of millions of dollars and include:

- Options to acquire equity in midsized U.S. multistate operators.

- The acquisition of a marijuana company’s debt.

- Purchases of CBD companies.

- Strategic partnerships.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadian-cannabis-producers-speed-entry-into-us-via-high-stakes-wagers/

'Ontario plans to permanently enable cannabis stores to offer delivery and curbside-pickup services, the Canadian province announced Thursday, a move that likely would provide a major boost for many of the province’s pandemic-hit, adult-use marijuana retailers.

Stores in Canada’s largest cannabis market were first temporarily granted the ability to offer delivery in April 2020 after the pandemic forced the province to shut down most retailers to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Since then, the province subsequently extended the temporary provision.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/ontario-making-cannabis-delivery-permanent-for-provinces-1000-plus-stores/

'Major free-standing shopping malls in Ontario, Canada, are throwing open their doors to cannabis stores, signaling the evolution of marijuana retail in the nation beyond more typical street-facing and strip-mall locations.

The impending growth in cannabis store mall openings in Canada’s biggest provincial cannabis market could bring opportunities for those retailers to:

- Reach untapped customer demographics and build brand awareness.

- Take advantage of high customer foot traffic.

- Make regular customers out of mall employees.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/major-ontario-shopping-malls-embrace-cannabis-stores/

'Canadian spending on medical cannabis fell to a five-year low in the first half of 2021, according to new data from Statistics Canada, as recreational marijuana reached record sales and more patients arranged to grow their own plants.

Patients in Canada spent 242 million Canadian dollars ($197 million) on medical cannabis in the first half of this year, down from CA$294 million in the second half of 2020 and 23% lower than the record CA$316 million spent in the final six months of 2017, the new figures show.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/medical-cannabis-spending-in-canada-hits-5-year-low-in-first-half/

'Abstract

This paper analyzes the historical stock returns of 10 medicinal cannabis companies for the period between 2015 and 2020, when the legalization of recreational cannabis was debated in Canada. The results of our analysis indicate that the industry was responsive to the announcements of regulatory change that led towards legalization. Furthermore, we compare the performance of cannabis companies to that of similar businesses. The results of the comparative analysis indicate that the performance of the matched pairs is largely correlated over time. Additionally, the pre-legalization performance of cannabis companies was better than their post-legalization performance. Given that cannabis companies did not outperform their matched pair, we can confirm that legalization did not have a significantly positive effect on the industry. We can also infer that, from a stock market perspective, the legalization of recreational cannabis has been unsuccessful thus far.'

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S031359262100134X

'Of the CA$1.8 billion in spending on legal cannabis from January through June:

- Extracts and concentrates sales at retail were CA$291.7 million, or 16.4% of total spending.

- Spending on edibles (minus beverages) reached CA$68.1 million, or 3.8% of total spending.

- Beverages spending was $23.6 million, or 1.3% of total spending.

- Spending on dried cannabis reached CA$1.3 billion, or 73% of total spending.

Statistics Canada said it did not disclose spending on cannabis oil, seeds or plants to meet certain requirements of the Statistics Act.

Medical cannabis spending was also omitted, but MJBizDaily previously reported that Canadian medical cannabis spending was CA$242 million in the first half of this year.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadians-bought-ca1-3-billion-of-dried-cannabis-in-first-half-of-2021/

'With this month occasioning the third anniversary of Canada’s nationwide legalization of adult-use cannabis, the Great White North in many ways maintains the mantle among global cannabis markets. As the first G-7 nation to fully legalize cannabis (five years after Uruguay became the world’s first country to do so, the Canadian cannabis industry has illustrated both the potential profits and practical pitfalls in developing an international cannabis marketplace.

Since legal sales began in October 2018, legal cannabis sales have steadily risen. More than CAD $1.3 billion of cannabis products were sold in Q2-2021 for non-medical use, marking nearly 12% growth from the previous quarter. New Frontier Data projects that by 2025, that number will grow to $5.2 billion.

Sales growth has been supported by the introduction of edible and topical products in late 2019.

While dried flower still dominates the market, accounting for a reported 73% of spending in all categories in Q2-’21, that margin is shrinking.'

https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/a-midyear-update-about-canadas-legal-cannabis-industry/

'Last summer, Darshil Shah, a senior researcher at the Centre for Natural Material Innovation at the University of Cambridge in the U.K., notably asserted (if without citing any studies) that hemp crops may capture atmospheric carbon more effectively than forests, estimating that industrial hemp absorbs between 3 to 6 tons of CO2 per acre.

The most-cited study about carbon sequestration in soil by growing industrial hemp was authored and submitted to the Australian government by GoodEarth Resources PTY, Ltd. (i.e., GoodEarth Resources), before the latter disbanded in 2014. The study claims that one acre of industrial hemp absorbs nearly 40,000 pounds of CO2 through its growing cycle.

According to the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA), industrial hemp sequesters carbon through photosynthesis, storing it in the body of the plant and its roots. The CTHA states that approximately 40% of hemp biomass is carbon. While Shah and the GoodEarth Resources study address carbon sequestered in the soil from hemp production, the carbon in the stalk of the hemp plant equates to increased value by “permanently capturing” CO2 in long-life products (e.g., hurd-based concrete and cement). Those potentially carbon-negative biomaterials require comprehensive life-cycle assessments by qualified material scientists to quantify and spur that area of interest.'

https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/with-abundant-hemp-hurd-coming-to-market-how-important-is-quality/

“Legal sourcing of cannabis was greater in 2021 than 2020 for all ten cannabis products [surveyed]. In 2021, the percentage of consumers sourcing all their products legally in the past 12 months ranged from 49 percent of solid concentrate consumers in 2021 to 82 percent of cannabis drink consumers,” investigators reported. “Transitioning consumers of all cannabis products into the regulated market is important for public health and safety. Future studies should continue to examine cannabis product sourcing in Canada over time, as well as ways to displace the illegal market for all cannabis products without also promoting the use of high-potency cannabis products.

https://norml.org/news/2023/02/23/analysis-growing-percentage-of-consumers-obtain-cannabis-products-from-the-legal-marketplace/

According to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), the federal government assessed approximately CA$862.3 million in total duty on cannabis products between the 2018-19 and 2020-21 fiscal years, most of which has been shared with provinces and territories.

The CRA has yet to publish comparable figures for the 2021-22 financial year.

But the most recent public accounts, which detail the government’s expenses and revenues, show the federal government received revenue from the cannabis levy worth CA$160.2 million that year, bringing total duty since 2018 to a minimum of CA$1.02 billion.

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadian-cannabis-duty-tops-ca1-billion-since-2018/

'Although the Cannabis Act introduced a variety of classes of cannabis licences, including for smaller producers, the federal Government requires that a potential supplier have a production facility in place, meaning that the supplier will have already made a substantial investment prior to applying for a licence. Some have speculated that this has contributed to deterring small entrepreneurs from applying for licences and may have favoured the emergence of a market dominated or even monopolized by a relatively small number of large, multi-billion-dollar businesses. There have also been reports of the alcohol, tobacco and finance industries investing in companies involved in nonmedical cannabis production. For instance, according to media sources, in October 2017 Constellation Brands, a major international producer of wine, beer and spirits, invested $4 billion to acquire a 9.9 per cent stake in Canopy Growth, the leading Canadian producer, to develop cannabis-based beverages. By the end of December 2019, Constellation owned a 35 per cent stake in Canopy. In December 2018, the tobacco company Altria made a $1.8 million investment in Cronos Group, a cannabis production company, giving Altria a 45 per cent interest in Cronos. Earlier in the year, Molson Coors Brewing, another multinational alcohol company, signed a joint venture with Quebec-based HEXO to develop and market cannabis-infused beverages. Market analysts have predicted that the alcohol industry will also invest in companies that plan to produce beverages that combine cannabis and beer and, in particular, they predicted that by the end of 2019 two of the largest cannabis companies in the world would be owned by two of the largest alcohol and tobacco companies' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'The sale of non-medical cannabis through legal sources represents only a portion of the cannabis market, as it appears that a substantial proportion of users still rely on illegal sources to obtain cannabis (42 per cent in 2019). Moreover, cannabis prices on the illegal market have remained considerably lower (and have been declining) compared with the prices on the legal market. In the second quarter of 2019, based on 236 submissions, the average price per gram of cannabis on the legal market was Can$10.65, compared with Can$5.93 per gram on the illegal market.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'After the cannabis regulations were adopted and sales began in October 2018, retail sales of nonmedical cannabis online and in cannabis stores up to September 2019 totalled some 908 million Canadian dollars, or an average of Can$24 (approximately $18) per capita. Although Ontario had the smallest number of retail outlets, it had the highest retail sales (Can$216 million), followed by Alberta (Can$196 million) and Quebec (Can$195 million), by the end of September 2019. Out of the total of Can$908 million, most sales were made through bricks-and-mortar stores (Can $788 million), while online retail sales (Can$120 million) accounted for 13 per cent. Direct-to-consumer trade by wholesalers, which includes retail sales by public sector stores classified as wholesalers, accounted for 1.9 per cent over the same period.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'By the end of July 2019, about 400 retail outlets had been opened across Canada. The opening of retail outlets has been slower in some places than in others. Ontario, the most populous province in Canada, with a population of 14 million, began with a retail system in which licences were issued to operators by way of a lottery. At the end of July 2019, the province thus had only 24 outlets, fewer than 2 outlets per 1 million population, whereas Newfoundland and Labrador had the same number of outlets per 500,000 population. The province of Alberta permitted the opening of the largest number of retail outlets, with 176 private retail outlets for a population of 4 million.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'In most provinces, the retail licensing regime is similar to that regulating the sale of liquor, and cannabis is sold through licensed retailers (private sector), provincial retail stores (public sector) and online. Many provinces have adopted a hybrid model that allows either public or private physical retail outlets together with online retail controlled by regulatory authorities, or a combination of all three. With the exception of the Nunavut territory, all the provinces and territories allow retail sales of cannabis products online. British Columbia and Yukon are the only province and territory that allow all three modes, while Alberta, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario and Saskatchewan have allowed private bricks-and-mortar retail stores.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'According to the new cannabis regulations, the federal Government of Canada is responsible for setting the requirements for those who grow and produce cannabis, including the types of cannabis products available for sale. For example, the regulations were amended in October 2019 to allow the production and sale of edible cannabis, cannabis extracts and topicals, and the sale of those products began gradually from December 2019. The provincial and territorial governments, for their part, are Responsible for developing, implementing, maintaining and enforcing systems to oversee the distribution and sale of cannabis.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'While most cannabis users had used more than one product, over three quarters of users purchased and consumed dried cannabis flower or leaf for smoking. Although the sale of edibles and extracts started only at the end of 2019, a substantial share of cannabis users reported using edible cannabis products (26 per cent), cannabis oil or vape pens (19 per cent), hashish (16 per cent) and solid cannabis concentrates (14 per cent) during the same year.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'In 2019, young people aged 15–24 were more likely than those in older age groups to obtain cannabis from illegal sources, whereas a larger share of older cannabis users relied solely on legal sources; 41 per cent of cannabis users aged 65 or older reported using only legal sources to obtain cannabis, compared with roughly one quarter of the other age groups.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'The transition from the illegal market to legal sources of cannabis has been a gradual one. The proportion of cannabis users sourcing their products from the legal market increased from around 25 per cent in the second and third quarters of 2018 to about 50 per cent one year later, and in 2019 nearly 30 per cent relied solely on the legal market for their cannabis (compared with 10 per cent in 2018). Many users relied on multiple sources to obtain their cannabis, with about 40 per cent of cannabis users still getting their product from illegal sources.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'Along with the increase in prevalence, the frequency of cannabis use also increased marginally. At the beginning of 2018, some 5 per cent of the population aged 15 and older were daily users of cannabis products; by the third quarter of 2019, this proportion had increased to 6 per cent. Increases in the proportion of daily users of cannabis were observed mainly among males, young people aged 18–24 and those aged 65 and older. Daily or near-daily use of cannabis is more frequent in younger users than in older ones. Nearly 8 per cent of people aged 15–24 and 9 per cent of those aged 25–44 were daily or near-daily users of cannabis, compared with 4 per cent of people aged 45–64 and nearly 3 per cent of those aged 65 and older. Men were twice as likely as women to be daily or near-daily cannabis users. A commonly observed pattern of use is that regular and frequent users of cannabis, such as daily or near-daily users, represent a small proportion of all cannabis users, but they account for the bulk of cannabis products consumed. It is estimated that in 2018, for example, around half a million people in Canada consumed some 810 tons of cannabis, of which half (426 tons) were consumed by daily or near-daily users and another 355 tons by those who reportedly used cannabis at least once a week.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'There is a considerable level of overlap between the medical and non-medical use of cannabis products in Canada, although the proportion varies by age group. In the second and third quarters of 2019, 52 per cent of cannabis users aged 65 and older reported using cannabis for medical purposes (with or without proper documentation for such use). On the other hand, nearly 60 per cent of cannabis users aged 15–24 reported the use of cannabis products for non-medical purposes, and one third of respondents in that age group reported using those products for both medical and non-medical reasons.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'Cannabis use has increased in all provinces but Manitoba. In most provinces, the increase between 2018 and 2019 was rather modest. In four provinces, however, cannabis use increased considerably (Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'At the baseline, in the first quarter of 2018, nearly 14 per cent of Canadians (12.2 per cent of women and 15.8 per cent of men) reported that they had used cannabis, including cannabis products for medical purposes, in the past three months. The highest prevalence rates were reported among those aged 25–34 (26 per cent) and 15–24 (23 per cent). By the beginning of 2019, the prevalence of use in the past three months had increased to 17.5 per cent, and it remained close to that level until the third quarter of 2019 (17.1 per cent). While the prevalence of cannabis use in the past three months rose in most age groups in 2019, the most marked increase was observed in the oldest age group (65 and older), for which the prevalence nearly doubled in comparison with 2018. There also seems to be a larger proportion of new users among older adults than in other age groups: while 10 per cent of new cannabis users were aged 25–44 in the second and third quarters of 2019, more than one quarter were aged 65 and older.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'To monitor the outcome of the new cannabis regulations, the Government of Canada has invested in a formal system that may eventually help to evaluate their impact and support the further development of policies and programmes. One of the main measures taken to that end is a cannabis survey that established a baseline in 2018 and is repeated every quarter in order to provide objective information on trends in the use of cannabis products, both medical and non-medical, as well as on how the legal cannabis market has evolved over time.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'The objectives of the current cannabis legislation in Canada are to keep cannabis away from young people (under 18 years of age), to prevent criminals from profiting from the distribution and sale of cannabis and to safeguard public health and safety by allowing adults (aged 18 and older) legal access to cannabis. Under the constitutional division of powers in Canada, the federal Government and provincial governments have different responsibilities. As the provinces historically developed their own systems to regulate the sale of alcohol, a similar approach has been applied to regulate the non-medical use of cannabis products.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'That means a gram of cannabis purchased in the illicit market was 45% cheaper on average than marijuana bought in the regulated market.

It shows Canada’s illicit market is staying competitive with the regulated market on price.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/price-gap-grows-in-canada-between-legal-illicit-cannabis/

'Since 2011, interceptions of cannabis along U.S. borders have fallen 89%, reflecting the convergence of changing social, economic, and legal developments.

The southern border continues to account for almost all the interceptions (99%), though it has also seen the steepest decline (90%) of them since 2011.

The decrease in southern interceptions is likely attributable to a range of factors: falling demand for illicit cannabis in states with legal medical and adult use programs, less appeal for traditionally lower-quality cannabis from Mexico or other southern countries than for domestically cultivated products, and increased border enforcement efforts raising the risk of interdiction.

Conversely, interceptions at the norther border increased 113% between 2018 and 2019, reflecting Canada’s nationwide adult-use legalization in 2018 and the appeal of its reputed high-quality cannabis.

The data suggest that legalization is having a major disruptive effect on international cannabis smuggling operations aimed at the U.S., and underscores American consumer preference for regulated cannabis products where available and competitively priced'

https://newfrontierdata.com/cannabis-insights/cannabis-border-interceptions-decreasing/

'Farm cash receipts in British Columbia hit a record high in 2019, boosted by an increase of nearly 300 million Canadian dollars ($221 million) in cannabis sales.

 The annual growth in cannabis cash receipts in British Columbia far outpaced growth in other agricultural sectors such as dairy (CA$47 million), beef (CA$25 million) and field vegetables (CA$17.5 million), the provincial government reported Tuesday.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/cannabis-gives-british-columbia-farm-sales-ca300-million-boost-in-2019/

'Cannabis regulators in Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT) reduced prices of legal marijuana products by 10% in an effort to eliminate illicit marijuana sales.

 The price cuts, which took effect July 2, apply to all cannabis products sold by the Northwest Territories Liquor and Cannabis Commission (NTLCC), the NWT government said.

“With close to two years of legal sales, NTLCC has a better understanding of the operating costs associated with the distribution and sale of cannabis and is confident that it can reduce the price of these products while continuing to maintain a safe and secure retail regime,” the agency noted.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadas-northwest-territories-cuts-cannabis-prices-to-fight-illegal-market/

'The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) said that its recommendation is motivated by an interest in reducing overdose deaths and promoting treatment. This announcement comes two years after the organization created a commission tasked with studying decriminalization, the results of which were released in a new report.

“Canada continues to grapple with the fentanyl crisis and a poisoned drug supply that has devastated our communities and taken thousands of lives,” CACP President Adam Palmer said in a press release. “We recommend that enforcement for possession give way to an integrated health-focussed approach that requires partnerships between police, healthcare and all levels of government.“'

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/top-canadian-police-association-says-its-time-to-decriminalize-all-drugs/

'According to United States authorities, most of the fentanyls destined for the North American market have been manufactured in China in recent years, from where they were either shipped directly to the United States, mostly through postal services, or were first shipped to Mexico and, to a lesser extent, Canada and then smuggled into the United States. However, after the introduction by China in May 2019 of drug controls based on generic legislation with regard to the fentanyls, which effectively brought more than 1,400 known fentanyl analogues under national control in China, early signs suggest that fewer fentanyls were smuggled from China to North America. At the same time, attempts to manufacture fentanyl and its analogues inside North America are increasing, notably in Mexico, by means of a method using precursor chemicals smuggled into the subregion from East Asia and South Asia.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'All factors driving fentanyl use converged from 2013 onwards in the United States and Canada, which may explain the unprecedented spread of the fentanyls in those markets: factors such as the diffusion of simpler, more effective methods of manufacture of synthetic opioids and their analogues (primarily fentanyls), assisted by the availability on the Internet of instructions for their manufacture; a shift from preparation by a limited number of skilled chemists to preparation by basic “cooks” who could simply follow the posted instructions; the discovery of ever more fentanyl analogues; a lack of effective control of precursors and oversight of the industry; expanding distribution networks that reduced the risk of detection through the use of postal services and the Internet; and increased licit trade including e-commerce.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'Although geographically disconnected, the areas that were initially affected by the opioid crisis in Canada and the United States have experienced remarkably similar market dynamics, which can be broadly described in the following sequential steps: (a) High rates of prescriptions for pharmaceutical opioids leading to diversion and an increase in the non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids, opioid use disorders and an increase in opioid overdose deaths (b) Regulations introduced to reduce diversion and non-medical use of pharmaceutical opioids (e.g., tamper-proof formulations to prevent injecting) (d) Fentanyl (illicitly manufactured in clandestine laboratories) and its analogues emerge as adulterants in heroin and stimulants (cocaine and methamphetamine) and are sold as falsified pharmaceutical opioids, resulting in massive increases in deaths attributed to fentanyls (e) Fentanyls emerge as the dominant opioid in opioid overdose deaths, as well as contributing to overdose deaths attributed to other drugs (g) Fentanyl-related deaths are the main contributor to total opioid overdose deaths;' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf

'That means a gram of cannabis purchased in the illicit market was 45% cheaper on average than marijuana bought in the regulated market.

It shows Canada’s illicit market is staying competitive with the regulated market on price.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/price-gap-grows-in-canada-between-legal-illicit-cannabis/

'One of the first orders of business for new Cannabis Council of Canada head George Smitherman was a meeting with federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu to discuss issues facing the burgeoning industry.

Packaging restrictions, the export approval process, excise stamps and CBD were among the topics discussed Monday, Smitherman told Marijuana Business Daily.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/new-cannabis-council-head-presses-canada-health-minister-on-red-tape-exports-excise-stamps/

'Canada Post, which ships most cannabis in the country, will no longer request signatures for deliveries as part of enhanced safety measures to help contain the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Adult-use marijuana deliveries handled by Canada Post will go to local post offices for pickup, a prospect that might impact online demand in provinces relying on the federal courier if customers find it unappealing.

At the same time, demand is increasing sharply for delivery services.

Cannabis stores across Canada – both online and in stores – reported unprecedented demand in recent days as the country enacts social distancing measures to help contain the worsening outbreak'

https://mjbizdaily.com/demand-for-cannabis-delivery-soars-as-canada-post-restricts-service/

'George Smitherman, chair of industry group Cannabis Council of Canada, said incorporating marijuana into Canada’s internal free trade accord would represent further recognition of the sector’s significance in the broader economy.

“It’s a powerful acknowledgement that the sector has established itself in all of the regions of the country,” he said.

“That’s important because, associated with cannabis over time, there’s going to be significant community and economic advancement. It’s really important that all regions of the country are participating in that.”'

https://mjbizdaily.com/talks-underway-in-canada-to-add-cannabis-to-internal-free-trade-deal/

'Saskatchewan is the only province in Canada that allows privately owned marijuana stores to sell cannabis online for pickup and delivery, as well as selling at wholesale to other retailers in the province.

 Cannabis stores in communities with fewer than 2,500 people may be stand-alone or integrated with another business.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/saskatchewan-accepting-cannabis-store-applications-for-small-communities/

At the ratio of one shop per 10,000 people, Bengaluru needs approx 1300 ganja retail shops..

 'Chris Damas, editor of Ontario-based BCMI Cannabis Report, estimates that Ontario would need an additional 1,400 points of sale to reach the one-per-10,000-people mark observed in Colorado and Alberta.

Ontario, which has pledged to ramp up new store authorizations this year, started accepting open-market applications on Jan. 6.

As of April 29, Ontario authorized almost five dozen stores. Quebec is not faring much better than its neighbor.

Damas estimates that Quebec’s cannabis point of sale deficiency at 95% – meaning it is roughly 800 stores shy.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/ontario-leads-canada-with-96-percent-deficiency-in-cannabis-stores-researcher-estimates/

'Nunavut is Canada’s least-populous jurisdiction, with an population of about 39,000.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/cannabis-stores-coming-to-canadas-remote-nunavut-territory/

'British Columbia’s monthly share of the federal excise duty on adult-use cannabis hit a fresh high as the province continued to execute its plan to greatly expand the number of privately and publicly owned marijuana stores.

For December, British Columbia’s share of the federal excise tax was 2.5 million Canadian dollars ($1.8 million) – the province’s highest monthly total since cannabis was legalized in late 2018.

The sum represents a 44% increase over the previous month’s CA$1.7 million.

December’s record tax revenue is largely attributable to new store openings.

New stores represent the biggest opportunity for one-time excise gains as retailers stock their shelves for the first time, forcing the provincial wholesaler to replenish its inventory.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/british-columbia-sees-record-tax-revenue-from-cannabis-sales/

To me this shift to marijuana over all other pharmaceutical drugs looks great but the report doesn't seem to agree. Some parts of this report seems to hint that one veteran killed his family and committed suicide because he was prescribed 10 grams of marijuana per day. It seems to create this picture even though it states that the person suffered from PTSD after serving in Afghanistan, had major depressive disorder, financial and marital difficulties, a childhood of verbal and physical abuse and was most likely on benzodiazepines, a known class of drugs with high suicide rates. In India, before prohibition, 200 grams a day was the common legal amount that could be sold to an individual at a retail outlet and 20-40 grams a day was considered moderate intake.

 'The Department of Veterans Affairs spent $77,794,212.57 last year on marijuana.That is more than the department spent ($66.2 million) on the 12,000 other drugs approved to be prescribed for veterans.'

https://www.saltwire.com/news/provincial/special-report-profitable-trauma-medical-marijuana-and-canadas-veterans-451441/

'Canada’s total crop receipts in 2019 reached CA$36.6 billion, a 3.9% increase over 2018.

“The gain was attributable to a $1.7 billion increase in licensed cannabis producer receipts during the first full year of legalized recreational use,” reported Statistics Canada.

 Cannabis crop receipts reached CA$2.3 billion in 2019, an increase of more than 300% over 2018, when recreational cannabis was legalized late in the year.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/legal-cannabis-contributes-ca2-3-billion-to-crop-receipts-in-canada/

'Canada’s recreation cannabis sales grew by 19% in March to reach CA$181.1 million ($131.5 million), ahead of most U.S. states, according to Cantor Fitzgerald.

Analyst Pablo Zuanic said that Canada’s March sales data was significantly ahead of Cantor’s mid-single digit estimate, partly due to pantry loading, but also on account of continued Cannabis 2.0 rollouts'

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/aphria-aurora-among-top-performers-190209100.html

'Germany was the main destination for Canada’s dried cannabis.

Just over 94% of the 3,740.232 kilograms of dried product exported from Canada last year went to the European Union country.

 Germany imported roughly 6,714 kilograms of medical cannabis flower in 2019 from all destinations – both for pharmacy dispensing and redistribution in the EU – meaning Canada provided 52% of Germany’s imported flower. Most of the rest came from the Netherlands.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canada-exported-record-amount-of-dried-cannabis-in-2019/

'Australia was the top destination, with roughly 3,700 liters (977 gallons) shipped there in 2019.

 Germany and Denmark were second and third, with 790 liters and 336 liters, respectively.

 Those top three markets accounted for 90% of all exported oil.

 The remaining 546 liters were shipped to 10 or more countries.

 Overall, 5,372.3 liters of cannabis oil products were exported for medical and scientific use in 2019.

 That’s almost five times more than the 920 liters exported from Canada in 2018. Roughly 435 liters left Canada via federal approval in 2017.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/canadian-exports-of-medical-cannabis-oil-jumped-fivefold-in-2019/

'Canada’s largest market for adult-use cannabis products saw its 100th retail store authorization this month, Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario records show, though not all the stores are open as they complete the regulatory process.

 It is an important milestone for a province that has lagged other jurisdictions in store openings since cannabis was legalized in late 2018. Alberta remains the leader with 483 cannabis providers, though that market is showing signs of retail saturation.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/ontario-cannabis-market-surpasses-100-retail-store-authorizations/

'The quantities of methamphetamine seized in North America rose sixfold between 2009 and 2018, to 117 tons. North American methamphetamine seizures accounted for more than 99 per cent of all the methamphetamine seized in the Americas in 2018. Methamphetamine seizures in the subregion were dominated by those reported by the United States (71 per cent of the total in 2018), followed by Mexico (29 per cent), while the quantities of methamphetamine seized in Canada (0.4 per cent) remained more limited' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

'The United States, for example, has been reported by other countries as a country of departure of methamphetamine for Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), Asia (Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, China and Mongolia) and Europe (Ireland). Moreover, methamphetamine trafficking has been reported not only from Mexico or from Canada into the United States but also from the United States to those two countries, suggesting a number of two-way trafficking flows across the countries of North America. Methamphetamine trafficked from Canada has been reported in the United States, South America (Chile), Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) and a few countries in Europe (Iceland and Latvia).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

'While methamphetamine trafficking flows from East and South-East Asia to countries outside the subregion remain modest, some smuggling to destinations around the world was reported, mainly smuggling from Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar in 2018 or, when the period is extended to the past five years, mainly from China and Thailand. Destinations outside the subregion included countries in South Asia, the Near and Middle East (Saudi Arabia as well as Israel), Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), North America (the United States as well as Canada), Western Europe (notably Switzerland as well as Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Iceland), Eastern Europe (notably the Russian Federation) and Africa (notably South Africa) over the period 2014–2018' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

'Methamphetamine found in Australia and New Zealand is both locally manufactured and, to a larger extent, imported from North America and Asia. In the fiscal year 2017/18, methamphetamine was mainly smuggled into Australia from the United States, followed by Thailand, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, China (including Hong Kong, China), Mexico, Lebanon, Viet Nam and India. The United States was also the main source country of the methamphetamine found in New Zealand in 2018, followed by Canada and, in SouthEast Asia, by Malaysia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

'The largest quantities of cannabis herb seized in 2018 were those reported in the Americas (61 per cent of the total), with South America alone accounting for 43 per cent of the global total. Of note is the marked decline in the share of seizures made in North America, which had long been the subregion reporting the largest cannabis herb seizures: on average, 50 per cent of the global total over the period 2008–2018, falling to 17 per cent of the global total in 2018, that is, to less than the total for Africa that year (19 per cent). The next largest regional reported seizure totals in 2018 were those for Asia and Europe.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

'The quantity of cannabis herb seized in 2018 declined by 16 per cent compared with a year earlier, falling to 4,303 tons, the lowest level since 1999. As compared with 2010, the quantity seized fell by 34 per cent at the global level, largely due to decreases reported in North America (-84 per cent), with marked declines being reported by Mexico, the United States and Canada. Discussions and policies aimed at liberalizing the cannabis markets, including changes in the drug’s legislation in Canada and some jurisdictions of the United States, legalizing the production, distribution and the recreational use of cannabis, seem to have played a key role in this respect. By contrast, the quantities of cannabis herb seized almost doubled in the rest of the world over the period 2010–2018 (South America: +194 per cent; Oceania: +94 per cent; Europe: +73 per cent; Asia: +71 per cent; Africa: +53 per cent). The global cannabis herb trafficking index, based on qualitative information reported by Member States on trends in cannabis herb trafficking, also increased over the same period, although the trend appeared to be stabilizing in 2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf

Afghanistan and Mexico source the heroin and morphine. Mexico, Thailand, Myanmar and China source the methamphetamine. The Middle East and Eastern Europe sources the amphetamine. The US consumes heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Europe consumes heroin, morphine, methamphetamine and amphetamine. Asia consumes heroin, morphine and methamphetamine. Australia consumes methamphetamine. The Middle East consumes heroin and amphetamine. West Asia consumes heroin and methamphetamine. All countries grow and consume cannabis. Opioids, methamphetamine and amphetamines kill the most in terms of drug deaths, cannabis kills none. Who are the leading opponents to cannabis legalization and leading enforcers of global anti-cannabis policy? The countries involved the most in heroin, morphine, amphetamines and methamphetamines. They put on a mask of concern about harms from drugs, produce, sell and consume the most dangerous synthetic drugs and vehemently oppose cannabis legalization worldwide while clandestinely feeding their habits and protecting their sources. They use arms and armies to protect and promote their synthetic drug habits, and drug money to fund and wage a war on cannabis everywhere, pushing man and planet ever closer to death on massive scales and away from the safe, healing cannabis herb...

Jul 10, 2020, 1:14 PM

'About 4.6 million or 15% of Canadians aged 15 and older reported using cannabis in the last three months. That was a similar percentage to what was reported before legalization. In addition, nearly one in five Canadians think they will use cannabis in the next three months.

Findings from the fourth quarter of the National Cannabis Survey (NCS), which was collected from mid-November to mid-December 2018 and was designed to monitor cannabis consumption and related behaviours before and after legalization of cannabis, are now available and include results for every province.'

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/190207/dq190207b-eng.htm

'Inspired by ganja—smoking sadhus of India 20 years ago, Emery, 52 now, became North America’s most famous proponent of drug culture. By selling marijuana seeds, the Canadian spawned a multi—million—dollar empire, including the Marijuana Party of Canada, Pot—TV and Cannabis Culture magazine to promote his cause.'

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/Prince-of-Pot-faces-five-year-jail-in-Canada/article16303312.ece

'Why was Marijuana Originally Criminalized in Canada?

In 1923, Parliament decided to add marijuana to the schedule of the Opium and Narcotic Control Act, which also included opium, morphine, cocaine and eucaine at the time. Historians have been unable to find a record of any kind of parliamentary debate on the issue, and it seems no explanation was given as for why it was being criminalized.'

https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2018/11/falqs-the-legalization-of-cannabis-in-canada/

'Canada’s landmark day of legal recreational marijuana sales was a success for many companies and key industry players who had businesses operational in time for the overwhelming turnout of consumers on Oct. 17. Here is a selection of photos from across Canada as it became the first major industrialized nation to launch a recreational cannabis market.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/photos-from-canadas-historic-first-day-of-recreational-cannabis-legalization/

'Here are five notable takeaways from the nation’s historic day:1. Smooth sailing. 2. Technology withstood the challenge. 3. Sales were strong. 4. All eyes were on Canada. 5. Financial reward is years away.'

https://mjbizdaily.com/week-in-review-5-takeaways-from-the-historic-launch-of-canadas-recreational-cannabis-market/

'What Mr. Trudeau got right during the election campaign was his focus on optimism and positivity. Instead of returning the Conservative jibes, he vowed to reclaim Canada’s “core values” — a strong social security system, active participation in international organisations, and an inclusive nationhood. Laying down a clear policy alternative, Mr. Trudeau, who calls himself a “proud feminist”, pledged to revise Mr. Harper’s anti-terrorism laws and end the country’s combat role in the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. He also promised to legalise marijuana.'

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/the-message-from-canada/article7792979.ece

'Given the significant public interest in understanding the demand and supply of cannabis since the coming into force of the Cannabis Act, Health Canada is making available a preliminary summary of information submitted to date. The summary table will be updated periodically, as reported information is verified and validated and as new data is submitted to the department.

In addition to providing this summary data, Health Canada will publish a more detailed summary of data reported to the Cannabis Tracking System , as well as data pertaining to cannabis for medical purposes. This is consistent with the department’s practice prior to October 17, 2018, where market-related data reported under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations was published on Health Canada’s website every three months.'

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-medication/cannabis/licensed-producers/market-data/supply-demand.html

'Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith isn't happy with his government's decision to sign a U.S. declaration embracing a war-on-drugs approach to the global narcotics trade — and suggests it was done to appease the U.S. in the middle of hard-fought NAFTA negotiations.'

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/powerandpolitics/canada-war-on-drugs-1.4841557

'Senator Tony Dean, who played an instrumental role getting the Cannabis Act through the Senate, expects the first few months to be marked by provinces ironing out wrinkles in new regulations.

“The impact is going to be counted in years more than in months,” he said. “Then, over the next two to three years, we will be able to start looking at how consumption patterns are changing, who’s using cannabis, how they’re using it, and the shift away from smoking to ingestibles and vaporization.”'

https://mjbizdaily.com/full-financial-effect-of-canadas-recreational-marijuana-soft-launch-may-be-years-away/

'Beyond reforming its criminal laws, the Canadian federal government will license growers and set production standards while delegating regulatory responsibilities for managing distribution and retail sales to its respective 10 provinces and three territories.'

https://newfrontierdata.com/marijuana-insights/picturing-green-rush-great-white-north/

'Ontario's Progressive Conservative government announced Monday it will allow recreational pot to be sold in retail stores while the province will handle online sales.'

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/pc-government-announcement-1.4783630

'In a French-language interview with a Quebec radio station Wednesday morning, Scheer said he has no intention of fully rolling back the Liberals’ legal cannabis policy, but that a Conservative administration would consider adjusting some of the rules after assessing the “consequences.”'

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/scheer-clarifies-that-no-a-conservative-government-would-not-re-criminalize-cannabis

'“This seems to be an opportunity for redemption by governments toward their citizens, on a par that is rarely equaled,” he said.

“This is a unique opportunity for informed debate and discussion on this issue, because the rewards – for Canadians, Americans and others – can be so bountiful.”'

https://mjbizdaily.com/former-pm-mulroney-others-will-follow-canadas-lead-on-cannabis/

'Under previous consumption rules, those over 19 would have only been able to smoke cannabis in a private Ontario residence when pot becomes legal Oct. 17. The proposed legislation eases the regulations to allow marijuana to be smoked in the same places as cigarettes.'

https://globalnews.ca/news/4489445/cannabis-ontario-government-announcement/

'On October 17, 2018, the Cannabis Act will come into force, marking a significant milestone in the Government of Canada’s commitment to legalizing and strictly regulating cannabis to keep it out of the hands of children and to keep profits away from criminals and organized crime. Public education is an important element of the Government’s public health approach to legalizing and regulating cannabis'

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/news/2018/10/government-of-canada-funds-innovative-cannabis-public-education-projects-targeting-young-canadians.html

'Meanwhile, Canada may soon become the largest country in the world to decriminalize the drug at a national level, paving the way for it to join multiple countries that have become de facto research hubs for cannabis scientists around the world who have bypassed their nation's borders and restrictive laws.'

Recreational use of cannabis in Canada finally became a reality for the people on October 17th, 2018....

Canada's Cannabis Act was introduced in the Canadian Senate Tuesday, its last legislative stop. The bill enjoys wide public support and the backing of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "I think it is broadly recognized that criminalizing cannabis has been a failure," said Senator Tony Dean of Ontario, a sponsor of the bill. He believes it will pass by July 2018, if not before.

“Our message [to Americans] is this should not be an issue,” Goodale told another Senate committee last month. “It becomes an issue if you make it one, but there’s no need to make it one because the border rules have not changed.”

https://news.vice.com/en_ca/article/bjpddw/jeff-sessions-thinks-legal-weed-could-cause-trouble-at-the-us-canada-border