Canada’s move towards legalizing marijuana is creating budding business opportunities.
In fact, the first ever conference and trade show is happening this weekend in Ottawa, drawing lawmakers, advocates and those hungry for a piece of the action.
Follow the sweet smell of cannabis and it may lead to the sweet smell of success. That’s what Steve Rawlings is hoping for with his unique business opportunity.
“If I could, I’d have something like a winery,” explains Rawlings, “where you could walk through, observe and try different products.”
Rawlings has come to check out the National Educational Conference and Business Opportunity Forum, hosted by Cannabis Canada, the voice for licensed producers.
Colette Rivet is the Association’s Executive Director, “We’re really trying to spread the word to Canadians across the country about what is legal and what is cannabis and what you have to know about it to make an informed decision about consuming it.”
But what many people really want to know is how to capitalize on it. Canada’s foray into legalizing recreational marijuana is turning pipe dreams into possibilities.
Take the American company Boveda for instance. Their product, to control humidity, was initially developed for cigars, then guitars and now marijuana.
“We don’t touch the weed per se,” says Boveda’s Drew Emmer, “we are an accessory, a side show that helps keep weed fresh.”
David Hyde has turned his security consulting business into a budding business for, well, buds.
“We do (security for) hospitals, community centres, shopping malls, etc. but when this came out five years ago, we saw this as an opportunity because it was so security-centric.”
Then, there’s Chris Stone, yes “Stone” whose cannabis is grown by the “shores of the Salish Sea.”
“It’s from B.C.,” explains Stone of his Broken Coast Cannabis, “which, in the cannabis industry, has a certain amount of caché and history about it.”
How big will this market be? Sébastien St. Louis with Hydropothecary, a licensed producer in West Quebec, says just wait for it.
“We’re talking about a billion dollar market expanding to $20 plus billion in Canada alone,” he says.
And so, organic farmer Deborah Lindsay, who travelled from Montreal to attend this two-day conference, and has grown fruits and vegetables for years, is now focusing on another kind of cash crop. What are her chances?
“That’s a good question. I’d like to be able to answer you. I’m hoping it will work.”
Saturday, the head of the Chiefs of Police, Supt. Paul Johnston, talks about smoking and driving and lawyer Alexander Kooiman looks at pot in the workplace.
The conference will then move on to other cities across the country.
Link – CTV News. Article by Joanne Schnurr
