Rasta

Wednesday October 17, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 17, 2018

Canada becomes second country to legalise recreational marijuana

The nationwide market for cannabis opened Wednesday at midnight amid lingering questions about the impact on health, the law and public safety.

Preparations included mailings to 15m households detailing the new cannabis laws and public awareness campaigns.

But there remain concerns, including about the readiness for police forces to tackle drug impaired driving.

Canadian provinces and municipalities have been preparing for months for the end of cannabis prohibition.

Provinces and territories are responsible for setting out many of the details for where cannabis can be bought and consumed within their jurisdictions. 

This has created a patchwork of legislation across the country as jurisdictions choose more or less restrictive frameworks for selling and using cannabis.

Shops in the province of Newfoundland, the most easterly time zone in Canada, opened as midnight struck for the first legal sales of cannabis in the country.

There remain unanswered questions on some key issues around how legal cannabis will work in Canada.

A number of analysts are predicting a shortage of recreational marijuana in the first year of legalisation as production and licensing continues to ramp up to meet demand.

And the marketplace itself is still in its infancy.

Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, will only begin opening retail stores next spring, though residents will be able to order cannabis online.

British Columbia, one of the provinces with the highest rates of cannabis use, will only have one legal store open on Wednesday.

Until retail locations are more widely available, some unlicensed cannabis retailers, which have flourished in the years since the law was first proposed, may stay open.

It is unclear if police will crack down on them immediately, or if they will turn a blind eye. (Source: BBC News) 

Saturday October 14, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday October 14, 2017

The Next Big Thing in the Cannabis Industry

 
Canada has a pot problem, as Quartz Media recently warned us, but it’s a lucrative problem to have. One thing holding back this $8-billion market Forbes Magazine, April 13, 2017) is supply, and one little-known company plans to be the steward of it in a big way.  
 
When Canada legalizes recreational marijuana in less than a year, in line with a bill pushed through by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, legal supply is likely to be limited. There may not even be enough even if we are only considering medical marijuana usage. Keeping an eye on Insys Therapeutics (NASDAQ:INSY), Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (NYSE:SMG), Zynerba Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ZYNE), Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE: IIRP), Teva Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TEVA).
 
The supply picture is so fantastically tight that Health Canada has had to streamline the approval process for growers because medical marijuana users have tripled in number since last year alone, according to Quartz. When it becomes legal recreationally, a Deloitte report estimates the economic  impact will be worth $22.6 billion annually in other words, more than the combined sales of beer, wine and spirits.
 
Meet Cannabis Wheaton the world’s first cannabis streaming company, backed by a powerhouse team, with the biggest industry trailblazer leading the way.
 
Not only is Cannabis Wheaton jumping into a huge potential market where supply is forecast to struggle to reach demand, but it’s offering a lifeline to new and existing growers who need financing to get off the ground fast.
 
Producers need a miracle grow strategy, and Cannabis Wheaton is stepping in to fill the gap with a ‘royalty’ business model that is new to this market.
 
And for investors, the major upside is that this model removes the risks associated with putting all your money into a single-crop producer.
 
Cannabis Wheaton is intending to ‘stream’ pot, and 15 partners have already been lined up, along with 1.4 million square feet of growing acreage. (Source: Markets Insider) 

 

SaveSave

Saturday August 4, 2001

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator - Saturday August 4, 2001 Our marijuana laws still in the dark ages Off-duty, journalists love the summer as much as anyone. But when he or she is back in harness, your average ink-stained wretch will tell you summer is not what it's cracked up to be, at least not in the newsrooms of the nation. We call this the silly season, when the same things that make it great make it tough to deliver a steady diet of compelling, important news. An unfortunate by-product of the silly season is that some stories take on a life of their own, their real importance blown out of proportion by the lack of competition. Take, for example, the extensive coverage this week about new federal regulations around the medicinal use of marijuana. According to much of the coverage and commentary about Allan Rock's announcement and photo-op tour of theÊcountry's first government-approved pot garden, this is a big deal. For the first time, Canadians who can demonstrate that they need to smoke marijuana to ease and control chronic pain and discomfort can grow and toke their medicine legally, provided they have a licence from Health Canada and approval from their doctor. In reality, this is a modest step, at best. Critics point out that the policy is severely restrictive in that applicants must have a life expectancy of a year or less, or be in severe pain from AIDS, cancer or some other serious medical condition. Doctors or medical specialists must support the application, and the process is alarmingly slow. To date, fewer than 300 people have been approved, with anotherÊ500 applications pending. (Source: Hamilton Spectator Editorial) Canada, marijuana, medical, medicinal, Health, Allan Rock, Jean Chretien, Herb Gray, Rasta, dreadlocks, ambition, politics, Liberal, pot

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday August 4, 2001

Our marijuana laws still in the dark ages

Off-duty, journalists love the summer as much as anyone. But when he or she is back in harness, your average ink-stained wretch will tell you summer is not what it’s cracked up to be, at least not in the newsrooms of the nation. We call this the silly season, when the same things that make it great make it tough to deliver a steady diet of compelling, important news.

An unfortunate by-product of the silly season is that some stories take on a life of their own, their real importance blown out of proportion by the lack of competition. Take, for example, the extensive coverage this week about new federal regulations around the medicinal use of marijuana. According to much of the coverage and commentary about Allan Rock’s announcement and photo-op tour of the country’s first government-approved pot garden, this is a big deal. For the first time, Canadians who can demonstrate that they need to smoke marijuana to ease and control chronic pain and discomfort can grow and toke their medicine legally, provided they have a licence from Health Canada and approval from their doctor.

In reality, this is a modest step, at best. Critics point out that the policy is severely restrictive in that applicants must have a life expectancy of a year or less, or be in severe pain from AIDS, cancer or some other serious medical condition. Doctors or medical specialists must support the application, and the process is alarmingly slow. To date, fewer than 300 people have been approved, with another 500 applications pending. (Source: Hamilton Spectator Editorial)