FUTURE OF POT

The GrowthOp and the Financial Post hosted a panel discussion on Understanding the Global Cannabis Economy at Postmedia Place in Toronto on Tuesday. Industry leaders gathered to share their insights on the state of the cannabis market, challenges facing Canadian businesses and the future of medical marijuana.

“This is a Canadian thing. This is not an American thing. They have access to capital? We have access to capital. They have access to talent? We have access to talent. We are in the lead right now, let’s keep it up.”

— JORDAN SINCLAIR, VP OF COMMUNICATIONS AT CANOPY GROWTH CORPORATION, ON WHETHER CANADA CAN COMPETE WITH THE UNITED STATES

“I think it’s inevitable to see consolidation for a number of reasons — one is the deals are relatively cheap to do, because they’re done on paper, right? They’re mainly stock deals and you don’t have to reach into your own pocket, which makes the deals easier to happen.”

— RANJEEV DHILLON, PARTNER AND CORPORATE CANNABIS LAWYER AT BENNETT JONES, ON CONSOLIDATION IN THE INDUSTRY.

“Canada has done a relatively good job. However, there’s just absolutely no way I believe that organized crime will not put its fingerprints on this, so I think keeping the industry clean going forward will be a huge issue. And I think that keeping organized crime at bay will be a very significant challenge.

— JULIAN FANTINO, EXECUTIVE CHAIR OF ALEAFIA, ON CHALLENGES FACING CANADA

“Clearly we’re going to have challenges with taxation. If medical patients are not able to afford medical cannabis then that’s a significant problem and it’s something that I’m working on.”

— DEEPAK ANAND, VP OF GOVERNMENT RELATIONS AT CANNABIS COMPLIANCE, ON TAXES ON MEDICAL CANNABIS

“What’s different in Canada, say from the U.S. markets, is it’s much easier to get into the business from a production and retail standpoint, and I think that caters towards innovation, marketing, etc. It’s a very sophisticated and commercial type of market.”

— NAVDEEP DHALIWAL, PRESIDENT OF SUPREME PHARMACEUTICALS, ON WHETHER CANADA GOT THE LEGISLATION RIGHT