While legalization in Canada is delayed until October 17th, 2018, Canadians are celebrating as micro-licenses are finally coming out, ushering in the second wave of legalization. These micro-licenses are revolutionary for the industry, including smaller cultivators and processors more able to adapt to local consumer demand. Additionally, black-market genetics will finally be regulated, opening up the global floodgates.
Health Canada announced multiple classes of licenses including: processing (micro and standard), producers (micro and standard), nurseries, industrial hemp, research, and analytical testing, in addition to medical sales licenses. The regulations and application guide to apply for new licenses are available by request from Health Canada and will be public online soon. Most notably, there will be no restrictions on how many licenses an individual can possess, opening the door to cannabis co-ops with decentralized diverse distribution systems. While current licensed producers face very few changes as they transition, there are a few game-changing regulations.
With calls for cannabis amnesty reaching the mainstream news, Health Canada finally announced that they will not discriminate against those with previous non-violent cannabis convictions. “Historically anyone with any type of criminal activity in relation to controlled substances could face an automatic rejection from Health Canada,” said cannabis compliance consultant Mathew Columbro, president of Vindica Cannabis Corporation. “Security clearances will now be analyzed on a case-by-case basis to screen out organized crime pre-application.”
Outdoor cultivation is finally legal, and new industrial hemp regulations now permit the sale to processors to extract CBD. Advertising remains strict for recreational cannabis, and Canadian licensed producers continue to be disruptive in the space despite celebrity endorsements and event sponsorship being banned outright. This was par for the course for Health Canada, which previously forbade promoting cannabis using luxury or recreation, and now includes an outright ban