America faces Canada fight for cannabis supremacy
A key question has emerged as investors pour billions of dollars into the marijuana industry: Will it be U.S. or Canadian companies that win the race for cannabis supremacy?
Businesses in Canada licensed to grow and sell weed have a head start, thanks to their government’s legalization of pot for adult use in October. They’re well funded and are touting their ability to export medical marijuana to countries around the globe that are relaxing restrictions.
Still, Canada’s population is smaller than California’s, and the U.S. market for legal marijuana is already larger than its northern neighbor, with estimates saying it could eventually be more than 10 times the size. As the thinking goes, America is where brands and fortunes are made, and there’s no reason to think that cannabis will be any different, despite the current federal prohibition.
“We’re going to have a great cannabis industry here, but the people who, for whatever foolish reason, thought that Canada was going to dominate the world of cannabis, they need to disabuse themselves of that notion because it was never founded on any reality,” said Afzal Hasan, president of Ottawa-based Origin House.
As it stands, the four biggest weed companies in the world, including two with valuations north of $10 billion, operate in Canada. But among the top 10, half are now operating in the U.S. after a surge in American companies that are listed publicly in Canada.