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What’s Up in Weed

June 30, 2017

Please see below for links to my What’s Up in Weed blog posts this month, rounding up what’s currently happening in the cannabis industry in Canada and abroad.

What’s Up in Weed – June 2, 2017

Canada – the Next Frontier of Cannabis

On Friday, May 19, along with Mike Gorenstein, CEO of Cronos Group, and Jennifer Hanser, Vice President, Business Development of Tilray, I spoke on a panel at the Marijuana Business Conference & Expo in Washington, DC. The topic of the discussion was Canada as the next frontier for cannabis businesses.

Click here to view the summary of the questions we fielded from the moderator and the terrific US audience.

It’s Raining Med!

It’s cannabis season in Toronto, with top-notch industry events such as the Canadian Cannabis Business Conference and the Lift Expo taking over the town (the latter being held next door to a bodybuilding expo – what a combo). In the midst of all the conferencing and expo-ing, the cannabis news gods thought fit to bestow some gifts. Click here to read all about it.

What’s Up in Weed – June 19, 2017

Health Canada announces changes to licensing procedure; expansion approvals

On May 26, Health Canada issued a statement detailing updates to streamline the way applications and expansions are handled under the ACMPR. Click here to read about the measures Health Canada is adopting.

Got you covered: LiUNA introduces coverage of medical cannabis

The Windsor-based Local 625 chapter of the Labourers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA) has partnered with licensed producer Aphria to introduce coverage of medical cannabis into its drug coverage benefits plan – available to 3,600 people. The union, made up of construction, waste management, show service and healthcare workers, has expressed concern about overprescribed opioids painkillers, and hope that medicinal cannabis can help reduce risk to its members. Read more here.

“Smoochy Woochy Poochy”

The US Drug Enforcement Agency has released a dictionary of drug slang code words. In what must go down in the cannabis hall of fame, the DEA would like law enforcement personnel to be aware that one of a long list of slang terms used to identify marijuana is “smoochy woochy poochy.” Check out my reaction to this saccharine disaster of a word here.

48 Licensed Producers (and not a single one named Smoochy Woochy Poochy)

Health Canada is on a roll and we have 48 licensed producers now.

What’s Up in Weed – June 29, 2017

Mexico “casually one-ups” the U.S. by federally legalizing medical cannabis

Forbes reports that in an official decree, Mexico has legalized cannabis for medical use, and has asked its Ministry of Health to design and implement public policies regulating the research, production, and medicinal use of cannabis and its pharmacological derivatives. More on that here.

New Brunswick casually one-ups the rest of the provinces by releasing a working group report on legalization of cannabis; planning legislation for autumn 2017

A New Brunswick working group formed in March of this year to recommend a model for distribution and retail sale in the province has released its report.
In my view, the single juiciest aspect of this report is the fact that it casually mentions that the Government of New Brunswick started planning for how legal recreational cannabis could be implemented in 2015, and anticipates introducing legislation this fall. “We didn’t just wait for the federal legislation and then start – we started doing our homework and our due diligence well before, anticipating what the federal legislation was going to look like”, the Toronto Star quoted New Brunswick Health Minister Victor Boudreau as saying last month.
This contrasts with other provinces, such as Quebec and more recently Manitoba, which have expressed concern at the tight timeline to prepare for the federal government’s self-imposed legalization deadline of July 1, 2018. Did New Brunswick just show them how it’s done?!
Click here for more information and for the report’s other interesting points.

Possibly Not Enough “Smoochy Woochy Poochy” to go around: Ontario’s Finance Minister

In an interview this week Ontario’s Finance Minister Charles Sousa voiced concerns that legalization of cannabis (which the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency says can masquerade under the street name of “smoochy woochy poochy”, among other slang terms), planned for July 1, 2018, will produce a supply shortage.
Health Canada, clearly thinking along the same lines, has recently announced changes to streamline the way applications for licensing and production facility expansions are handled under the ACMPR. However, it can still take more than a year for newly licensed companies to ramp up production and begin selling product.
Supply shortage concerns are not without reason. Check out some surprising statistics here.

What’s Up in Weed is not legal or financial advice. It is a blog by SkyLaw which is made available for informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional advice from a lawyer. This blog is subject to copyright and may not be reproduced without our permission.

If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact us. The SkyLaw team would be delighted to speak with you.

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This blog post is not legal or financial advice. It is a blog which is made available by SkyLaw for informational purposes and should not be used as a substitute for professional advice from a lawyer.

This blog is subject to copyright and may not be reproduced without our permission. If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact us. We would be delighted to speak with you.