Canadian marijuana producers eye US market to have their weed and smoke it too
“The vote sent cannabis stocks in Canada and the U.S. soaring. Shares of Los Angeles-based Pineapple Express Inc. rose 29 per cent Wednesday while the legalization news pushed Canada’s largest marijuana company, Canopy Growth Corp. to a billion-dollar valuation…the longer it takes for U.S. federal law to deem marijuana legal, the longer the Canadian licensed producers have to establish more international partnerships and create higher barrier to entry.”
The groundswell of American states that bent towards legalization last week may give a big boost to Canada’s marijuana industry – not because Canadian producers want to move south, but because the drug’s murky U.S.legal status positions them to have their weed and smoke it too. One in five Americans now live in states where pot is legal for adult use and the U.S. market for recreational marijuana is twice the size of Canada…that disconnect between state and federal laws presents Canadian companies with a unique competitive advantage. “With U.S. competitors weakened by regulatory risks and Canadian companies already leaders in the nascent global marijuana market, Canada’s marijuana producers are well-positioned to become the pre-eminent marijuana multinationals,.. “Canada is probably three to four years ahead of any other country in terms of the scale of companies that we’ve been building. Canada’s large-scale commercial medical marijuana program is the most sophisticated in the world, which has created demand for Canadian licensed producers to share their expertise in exchange for fee, royalties, or share of their businesses. As legalization takes hold south of the border, Canadian companies have a massive opportunity to export their knowledge – if not their product, to the US. said Brendan Kennedy, CEO of Privateer Holdings, which holds a portfolio of marijuana-multinationals,
Original Article (Financial Post):
Canadian Marijuana producers eye US market to have their weed and smoke it too
Artwork Fair Use: Erik Fenderson