The trouble with Canada’s cannabis law

Restrictive legal framework risks turning away investors, Derek McCarty writes.

Montreal’s Parc de Dieppe played host to Cannabis-Fest this week, offering a snapshot of the creative potential surrounding Canada’s burgeoning cannabis industry. Part of a five-day Startup-Fest, this collection of speakers, investors, media and other interested participants highlighted the infinite opportunities for disruptive businesses to enter emerging markets in Quebec and across Canada.

A new class of risk takers flooded the city, ready to connect and uncover how cannabis entrepreneurs can participate and thrive in a legal market. As a panellist who spoke on products and perspectives in the cannabis space, I was floored by the enthusiasm and exchange of ideas. As a U.S. citizen working with dosist, a cannabis-based wellness company launched in the U.S., I could feel the contagious excitement for Canada’s impending legalization.

The buzz and depth of opportunities I saw steeply contrasts with the environment in my home country, which continues to be constrained by prohibition. Legalization gives Quebec and all of Canada the potential to grow as a tech hub, and Cannabis-Fest was a shining example.

Canadians share a common agreement that supporting an innovative business climate is part of the government’s economic mandate. Governments of all stripes are proud to talk about innovation. The Canadian government’s last budget, seeing no value in subtlety, plastered the word “innovation” throughout its text. And by committing to legalize and regulate recreational cannabis, they are walking this talk, while positioning Canada to attract jobs and investment.

Cannabis, as a black-market product, is already a force in the Canadian economy with Statistics Canada estimating Canadians spent nearly $6 billion on it last year. As a nationally legalized product, supported by advanced technologies and ancillary products, we can expect a powerhouse.

But significant work lies ahead to create a vibrant ecosystem for many businesses otherwise ready to thrive in a legal cannabis industry. Bill C-45 and associated regulations are important first steps but remain only that.

Canada will legalize cannabis in dried flower form with concentrates and vaporizers remaining illegal for up to a year. The narrow boundary of this legal framework limits the creativity of industry participants.

The opportunity for true innovation around cannabis requires entrepreneurs to have more tools, beyond dried flower, at their availability — specifically concentrates of the active ingredients and alternative delivery mechanisms like vaporizers.

Despite a compromised regulatory environment in the U.S., dosist has developed new technologies, including dose control, that enable the use of cannabis as a therapeutic tool in a safe, repeatable and consistent way. Failing to legalize tools like vaporizers and concentrates leaves untapped potential to further the government’s innovation agenda and closes the door to businesses with road-tested, marketready products.

Just last week, dosist launched an advocacy campaign entitled Not Available in Canada, focused on the therapeutic benefits of dose-controlled cannabis delivery, calling on Canadians to email their MPs to create a legalization path for these types of products in short order.

I applaud the government’s commitment to encouraging innovation. But in this case, industry has already done the work and needs the government to open the door.

As the first G20 country to legalize recreational cannabis at a national scale, Canada will continue to receive significant attention from investors looking to enter the legal cannabis space. But if its legalization regime closes doors, investors will divert their attention to other jurisdictions.

This would be a missed opportunity to enable dose control, the most critical tool for safe, consistent therapeutic cannabis experiences. It would hurt the industry’s potential and inflict lasting damage on Canada’s global branding as a home for innovation.

It’s time for Canada to take advantage of the enthusiasm I saw at Cannabis-Fest and welcome innovators into the cannabis space. It’s time to provide Canadians access to health and wellness tools.

It’s time to legalize vaporizers and concentrates.

Derek McCarty is the creative director at dosist, a cannabis-based wellness company launched in the United States.