Canadian medical cannabis producers looking to expand overseas
Licensed medical cannabis producers in Canada are looking to expand overseas, while Ottawa works on its plan to legalise recreational marijuana next spring. Two producers recently secured licenses to sell products in Europe.
The most recent company to announce plans to export marijuana is Canopy Growth Corp, the largest licensed producer in Canada.
Canopy Growth said it will begin selling dried cannabis in pharmacies across Germany after securing an export licence from Health Canada on Wednesday. The company added that it had forged partnerships in which it will share its technical expertise with medical marijuana companies in Brazil and Australia.
Germany will legalise medical marijuana next year; Canopy Growth CEO Bruce Linton said: “This is a very substantial market, and it’s probably the best place to enter the European Union from”.
Last month, British Columbia-based Tilray announced that it had shipped cannabis oil capsules to patients in Croatia for the first time.
John Fowler, President of Supreme Pharmaceuticals, said licensed Canadian producers are already working under a “world-leading regulatory scheme” for medical marijuana. Therefore, they offer an attractive opportunity for other governments who want to create their own federal system for growing and delivering the drug.
“Other countries are looking both at our regulator and at our regulated companies,” he said.
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SOURCE: [The Globe and Mail]
