FromtheEditor | Kate Lavin
Around the World in 120 Pages
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As the second anniversary of Canadian recreational marijuana legalization approaches, we look at how closely today’s market resembles the one analysts predicted at the outset. Despite the bottom falling out of cannabis stocks and a capital crunch forcing many businesses to cut costs, International Editor Matt Lamers says provincial governments have largely delivered on the promises they made leading up to legalization. Lamers is based in Toronto, which is home to some of North America’s largest cannabis companies as well as the largest stock exchange for plant-touching marijuana businesses. In this issue, he offers an overview of Canada’s provincial landscape for the cannabis industry, including fast facts on sales figures, retailers per capita and how the medical marijuana market has held up since adult-use sales began. (Surprise: One western province has seen MMJ patient counts rise nearly 20% since rec sales began.)
Monica Raymunt, a reporter covering hemp from Germany, spoke with the director of the International Hemp Building Association in Europe (see page 10) about the business realities of cultivating hemp for construction rather than cannabinoids. As she learned, distribution of such dense materials is a major issue, even as the public looks for sustainable building alternatives. Hemp reporter Ivan Moreno’s research for this issue spanned three continents as he uncovered how countries are overcoming bans that effectively stopped low-THC cannabis production for much of the past century. China, once a global force for hemp cultivation and processing, has proved to be a powerhouse once again. However, the country’s lack of publicly available agriculture data means other hemp-producing markets can only speculate about how much of the crop farmers are growing and selling. (See “Global Hemp Potential” on page 72.) As North America enters its third season battling unforeseen challenges, we hope this issue brings some clarity about where other nations are headed and highlights potential business opportunities at home and abroad.
Overflowing Warehouses and Scaling Back
Sincerely,
arijuana Business Magazine’s roster of international writers has doubled since this time last year, allowing us to offer readers even more industry insights in this third issue dedicated to the global cannabis space.
Reporter Solomon Israel is based in Manitoba, Canada, where regulators are accepting applications for new retail outlets and plan to allow cannabis sales in mainstream stores—a trend U.S. businesses would no doubt love to emulate at home. Israel breaks down 18 other trends of interest to prospective investors in Canada’s market, exploring how the country ended up with a cannabis glut of nearly 1.5 million pounds and which infused products are catching on with consumers. He also consulted historical records for “Global Retreat” (see page 58), detailing the list of Canadian license holders that made large investments overseas—and likely regretted it. Alfredo Pascual, an international analyst for Marijuana Business Magazine based in Germany, identified 10 nations with regulated cannabis in various stages of development. His feature “Top International MMJ Markets” (see page 60) gives a rundown of five countries with functional medical marijuana programs and revenue-generating opportunities. “Five Countries to Watch” (see page 68) offers a look at overseas markets where the next 12 months could mean the difference between promising and profitable—but only if luck is on the side of businesses, capital markets and countries fighting the current public health crisis.
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Marijuana Business Magazine | September 2020
Kate Lavin Marijuana Business Magazine Editor