Canada: The Next Frontier For Medical Marijuana

The United States cannabis industry has been one of the hottest places to invest over the last year; Canada, however, has not been too far behind. One the most important developments during 2014 was the implementation of the new federal medical marijuana program in Canada, Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR). The program has enabled the country to move from a system that allowed patients to buy from a single government‐approved grower or to either grow their own or purchase from non‐commercial growers, to a system of multiple commercial providers. The Canadian medical marijuana market differs significantly from the United States market in many ways and these differences cause the licensed producers to face many challenges. These differences include:

1. All orders are sent to patients through the mail.
2. The system excludes concentrates and extractions.
3. No storefronts which therefore excludes face to face ordering.
4. They spell marijuana a different way: marihuana.
5. They have a set of regulations called MMPR.
6. Health Canada is responsible for approving/disapproving licenses.
7. Licensed producers must go through an annual license renewal process.

Current size of medical marijuana patients

Currently, Health Canada estimates that there are roughly 40,000 qualified medical marijuana patients in Canada. 

What is MMPR?

The medical cannabis landscape in Canada went through significant changes during 2014. New regulations took effect on April 1, 2014, and were referred to as Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR). Before that, medical marijuana patients could access medical marijuana through the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR) program, which allowed patients to grow marijuana, designate a third party to grow marijuana for them, or obtain marijuana directly from Health Canada. Under the MMPR, patients must access medical marijuana through a Health Canada-approved Licensed Producer.

Below are two lists of licensed producers. The first is a list of producers who may sell marijuana under the MMPR. The second is a list of licensed producers who can produce, but not sell marijuana.

Fully Authorized Licensed Producers

• Aphria
• Bedrocan Canada Inc.
• Broken Coast Cannabis Ltd.
• Canna Farms Ltd.       
• CanniMed Ltd.
• CannTrust Inc.
• Delta 9 Bio-Tech Inc. 
• In The Zone Produce Ltd.
• MariCann Inc.
• MedReleaf Corp.
• Mettrum Ltd.
• OrganiGram Inc.
•  The Peace Naturals Project Inc
• Tilray
• Tweed Inc.
• Whistler Medical Marijuana Corp.

Licensed Producer – Cultivation only

• ABcann Medicinals Inc.
• Agripharm Corp.
• Aurora Cannabis Enterprises Inc.
• Bedrocan Canada Inc. (second site)
• CannTrust Inc.
• Hydropothicaire /Hydropothecary
• Prairie Plant Systems Inc.
• RedeCan Pharm
• Thunderbird Biomedical Inc.
• Tweed Farms Inc. 

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Michael Berger is Managing Partner of StoneBridge Partners, LLC and Founder of Technical420.com. Prior to entering the cannabis industry, Michael was an Equity Research Analyst at Raymond James Financial covering the Energy Sector. Michael has been featured in publications such as The Street, Bloomberg, US Money News, and hosts various cannabis events across North America.

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