BUSINESS
Title: New Report Says Canada’s Cannabis Industry Will Be Dominated By Big Pharma, Tobacco And Alcohol
Author: Civilized
Date: 21 November 2017
Extract: Big Pharma, Tobacco and Alcohol will dominate Canada’s cannabis industry, according to the country’s medical marijuana growers. According to a report from the consultancy firm EY, 75 percent of Canada’s licensed producers (LPs) say those big players will essentially take over the market in the near future.
“Recognizing that there is substantial opportunity in the cannabis industry, these established industries are expected to enter this space and try to leverage existing competencies and assets,” said the report from EY, which surveyed 11 of Canada’s LPs.
“They drew a comparison to the alcoholic beverage industry and the fact that there are craft brewers and players,” Monica Chadha of EY told BNN. “So a few big players and then, again, the industry will also be comprised of smaller niche players that really won’t be major competitor
Report: 87% of Canadian Cannabis Firms Anticipate Industry Consolidation in 3 Years
PROVINCES
Title: Provinces and pot: Whose approach is best?
Author: Globe & Mail
Date: 20 November 2017
URL: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/provinces-and-pot-whose-approach-is-best/article37032439/
Extract: The socialist NDP is embracing the free market, while the free-market Liberals seem to prefer the old-style state monopoly.
That is just one of the quirky realities as the provinces and territories slowly and unsurely unveil their strategies for the commercialization of legal marijuana.
Currently, only “medical” cannabis is legal. It must be prescribed and purchased from one of 74 licensed producers. More than 200,000 Canadians have availed themselves of this privilege.
But changes to the federal Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act mean that, come July 1, 2018, any adult can possess small amounts of marijuana.
While the Cannabis Act lays out the legal framework, the federal government left it to the provinces to figure out how marijuana will be sold.
In the past week, Quebec and Alberta both introduced legislation, and they took sharply different approaches.
Ontario and New Brunswick are the only other provinces to have introduced legislation to date.
NEW BRUNSWICK
New Brunswick, Canada Government Strikes Deal with 3rd Cannabis Producer
QUEBEC
Title: Congratulations Quebec, Your Proposed Weed Laws Are the Worst Yet The province is opening only 15 government-run dispensaries.
Author: Vice
Date: 20 November 2017
Extract: The province known for selling booze in corner stores has decided to open only 15 government-run dispensaries for people to purchase weed when the drug becomes legal next year, with up to 150 in two years. That works out to roughly one store per 550,000 people. Ontario, by comparison, is opening 40 stores by next summer, increasing to 80 by 2019, and 150 by 2020.
YUKON
Title: Yukon government to control pot distribution, legal age will be 19. The territorial government released its proposed framework for legal marijuana on Monday
Author: CBC
Date: 20 November 2017
URL: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-marijauna-framework-sales-pot-age-1.4410642
Extract: The Yukon government will alone control the import and distribution of legal marijuana in the territory, and set the legal age for buying, using or growing pot at 19.
Justice Minister Tracey-Anne McPhee and Health Minister Pauline Frost announced the government’s planned framework legislation for pot, on Monday.
“We’ve heard what you had to say and we’ve taken that into consideration,” Frost said, referring to a government-conducted survey on legal pot, earlier his year.