THEY NEED TO POSITION THEMSELVES ON THE GROUND IN THOSE MARKETS IF THEY WANT TO PLAY LONG TERM.

than a dozen countries have legalized medicinal cannabis at the federal level, but as of last year that includes major markets such as Germany, Australia and Mexico, with many others considering legislative change.

Prohibition Partners, a U.K.-based cannabis industry consultancy, estimates that the European medical market alone could reach 35.7 billion euros in five years; add in recreational legalization, admittedly a more distant prospect, and the European market could be worth up to 56 billion euros.

Over the long term, as countries in Europe and elsewhere develop their own medical marijuana systems, it’s likely that they’ll favour domestic cultivation over imports, said Stephen Murphy, managing director of Prohibition Partners, a Londonbased cannabis consultant. But Canadian companies, flush with cash and expertise, have a rare window of opportunity over the next several years to tap these underdeveloped markets and make themselves indispensable.

“They need to position themselves very much on the ground in those markets if they want to play long term,” Murphy said. “They can’t just rely on imports, they have to actively seek out those international opportunities.”

Canopy, Canada’s largest marijuana company, is aggressively making that international play.

Some 800 kilometres north of its German distribution hub, the company’s Danish subsidiary is converting an orchid greenhouse in the central city of Odense into a cannabis facility capable of producing enough marijuana to serve between 40,000 and 60,000 European medical patients, according to the company.

Across the Atlantic in Jamaica, Canopy is building eight greenhouses in a small town an hour’s drive east of Kingston. The facility is expected to produce 6,000 kilograms of cannabis a year for the Jamaican market and for export to other Caribbean countries.

“If you look at the way we’ve spread across the country, in Canada, there’s a little bit of a hint in there as to the international side of things,” said Canopy spokesperson Jordan Sinclair, referring to the current and planned expansion of production facilities in different provincial markets such as Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Canopy is hardly the only Canadian player looking abroad.

acquired German pharmaceutical wholesaler and importer Pedanios GmbH in May, shortly after the German government legalized medical marijuana and permitted patients to claim cannabis on their health insurance. It sold $2.5-million worth of dried cannabis in Germany in the second quarter of the 2018 fiscal year, more than double the amount from the previous quarter and accounting for more than 20 per cent of the company’s overall revenue.

Like Canopy, Aurora is also redeveloping a greenhouse in Odense and plans to turn the facility, called Aurora Nordic, into a millionsquare-foot European cannabis-growing behemoth.

B.C.-based Tilray, a private company, has a production facility in Portugal and distribution deals in several other European countries. Aphria Inc., a relatively late mover internationally, recently cut an $826-million deal to acquire littleknown Nuuvera Inc., largely because of that company’s international assets, which include one of only seven Italian import licenses. Meanwhile,

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