Pubdate: Thu, 01 Dec 2016
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2016 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Daniel Leblanc
Page: A3

GOVERNMENT RECEIVES CANNABIS TASK FORCE'S REPORT

Regulated production and a patchwork of provincial rules for
recreational users expected when the Liberals table legislation in
spring

Canada's new legal marijuana regime is expected to feature a mishmash
of provincial rules and a heavily regulated production system that
will initially favour existing producers of medical cannabis, sources
say.

Former Liberal cabinet minister Anne McLellan, who leads a panel
outlining a framework for the system, gave her report to the
government on Wednesday, offering recommendations on how marijuana
should be legally produced and sold and how it could be consumed and
by whom.

The report from Ms. McLellan's task force, which included medical,
academic and law-enforcement experts - still has to be translated from
English into French before being made public in coming weeks.

The Liberal government has promised to table legislation to legalize
marijuana for recreational use in the spring of 2017, although it
remains unclear when the drug will be taken off the prohibited list
for the first time since 1923.

Sources said one of the guiding principles of the task force was that
"all producers should be licensed" by Health Canada under the new
regime, except for the potential legalization of small home-growing
operations.

Canada has 36 producers licensed to grow and distribute marijuana for
medical purposes, and the task force has explored the possibility of
using them as the starting point for the production of marijuana for
the multibillion-dollar recreational market, sources said.

Sources said Ms. McLellan and members of the task force toured
licensed facilities in Canada and were impressed by the high level of
security and quality control. The task force also travelled to
Colorado and Washington in the United States, and came back with a
clear sense that Canada must approach legalization in a much more
organized and restrictive fashion, the sources said.

Cannabis Canada Association, which represents the majority of licensed
producers of marijuana for medical purposes, is calling on the
government to start off by expanding the current model to serve
recreational users.

"We do expect that market will also want quality products that they
don't have to worry about, so yes, we'd like to help in that way, to
start with at least," said CCA executive director Colette Rivet.

At the same time, the federal government will face pressure to break
the grasp of "corporate cannabis" over the recreational market.

"I think that really needs to be opened up," said Eric Nash, a B.C. -
based consultant in the marijuana industry. "A diverse cannabis
industry is essential for legalization to be a success."

While it will advocate a specific production model, the task force is
expected to recognize that the provinces and territories will have the
final word on the distribution model, akin to the different retail
systems for alcohol and tobacco.

"One of the things that we have discovered in this is that because
there are federal and provincial responsibilities with respect to the
regulation of the production, distribution and consumption of
cannabis, it will very much be an issue of consultation between us,"
Liberal MP Bill Blair, who is managing the legalization file, said
last week.

Brendan Kennedy, the CEO of marijuana-business investment company
Privateer Holdings and medical-marijuana producer Tilray, said he
wants the government to allow firms to sell their product under their
own brands, rather than as generic marijuana. He argued that is key to
replacing the $7-billion black market for marijuana with a regulated
supply from licensed producers.

In the past 90 days, Mr. Kennedy said, medical-marijuana companies in
Canada have raised about $200-million in financing to expand
production, he said, but right now, medical marijuana is an industry
with total annual revenue of about $100-million.

- - With a report from Campbell Clark
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt