Canada to become the second country to legalise recreational cannabis on Wednesday
Today, Canada will join Uruguay to become the second country in the world to fully legalise recreational cannabis consumption.
From today, Canadians will be able to possess up to 30 grams of cannabis in public and grow up to four plants in their homes; the federal government will license some 120 growers to supply stores.
With Canadians having spent an estimated $4.6 billion on cannabis in 2017, there will be a sizable and growing market for the drug. Indeed, the market for cannabis could almost double in the next year alone, which has prompted considerable interest from companies like Coca-Cola into the production of cannabis-based products. Meanwhile, a tax of $1 per gram should see public coffers receive a sizable boost over the next few years.
The primary obstacle to the industry’s growth will be the black market. Illegal cannabis will remain cheaper than the legal variety, largely due to packaging and taxes, while illegally supplied marijuana will be harder to detect and thus less risky to purchase. As such, until regulations loosen in the next few years, expect the potential of the cannabis market to be hampered.
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