POT CO-OPS ON RISE,
Key focus is to ensure ‘B.C. remains a world leader’
British Columbia may be famous for its bud but some say Canada’s new marijuana legalization framework is excluding small producers with established know-how.
A movement is growing in the province to address that problem with a common idea: cannabis co-operatives.
“Some may argue we’ve lost our place to either Ontario or Alberta based on the number of licensed producers based out of those provinces,” said Barinder Rasode, CEO and co-founder or Grow Tech Labs, a cannabis business accelerator. “We’re very focused on making sure that B.C. remains a world leader in the area.”
Rasode, who also formed the National Institute for Cannabis Health and Education, said she has travelled across the province speaking with small producers who have been growing marijuana long before legalization.
She heard common complaints that entering the legal market is too costly and the regulations are too complex, including roadblocks like a 195-square-metre production limit and non-specific security clearance criteria.
“There’s this myth out there that these pre-legalization growers are sitting on bunkers of cash,” she said.
Grow Tech Labs and Victory Square Technologies launched a cannabis co-op this month that will begin with a province-wide consultation of small producers and processors, Rasode said.
Grow Tech will provide startup funding but it will be up to the members to pick an executive and define their roles under bylaws.
“To have a co-op based model where there is a collaboration on not only success but risk mitigation and learning outcomes from each other is a model that has worked in Canada and definitely in B.C. with other commodities like wheat and cranberries,” she said.
Others have already started building co-ops and identified some obstacles.
The Cascadia Agricultural Co-operative Association is working to create a medical marijuana co-operative that extends beyond producers and processors to include consumers and retailers.
Co-founders Joel Podersky and Semir Yusuf said the model would include smalland medium-sized producers, patients and dispensaries.
“Collectively, they make up a market place, providing both supply and demand,” said Podersky.
The idea would be to prioritize quality over quantity and provide members with shared access to business development resources like accounting and legal support, he said.
Regulations prevent such a marketplace from operating independently. All distribution has to go through the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch.
In Kaslo, Todd Veri said he was inspired to start the Kootenay Outdoor Producers Co-op after reading a federal task force report on cannabis that said there would be space in the market for small growers. There’s a long history of local marijuana production in the Kootenays, he said, and he thought a co-op model would keep the economic benefits in the community.
The co-op has 35 local outdoor properties lined up and is reducing costs by using a “community garden” model on some growers, where a single piece of land is used for cultivation.
They also have a 460 square metre shared nursery in Salmo ready to go but Veri said he’s concerned about the time it’s taking for Health Canada to process the application he submitted in December.