Demand for pot may be too high to keep up

MONTREAL — An official with a large Canadian producer of medical cannabis is confident consumers will be adequately supplied come next July, but says production will need to be increased.

“Right now, the existing capacity and what is already envisioned will not be sufficient to meet the needs of the adult consumer market,” Cam Battley, executive vice-president of Aurora Cannabis Inc., said in an interview Monday. He has urged other companies to ramp up their production ahead of next July 1, when recreational marijuana is expected to be legalized.

“We need to expand our capacity right away simply to meet the demands of the rapidly growing medical cannabis system,” Battley said. “When the demand of the adult consumer system is layered on top of that, it’s a rush to build as much capacity as possible.”

Battley made the comments on the same day that Aurora began trading common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Alberta-based Aurora, one of several producers now listed on the TSX, is building what it describes as the world’s largest cannabis production facility at Edmonton International Airport. Battley said Canada has a well-developed and successful medical cannabis system.

“This is a coming of age, not just for Aurora, but for the cannabis sector and what we’re seeing now is that Canada has established itself as the world leader in a brand new emerging industry that we are literally inventing in real time,” he said.

Health Canada says there are more than 60 authorized licensed producers of cannabis for medical purposes. Ontario has issued 29 licences, followed by B. C.with 12.