Legalization of Marijuana & Rising Medicinal Applications

• July 6, 2019
• Praveen Kumar
• Drug Retail

Marijuana, a psychoactive drug, has medicinal as well as recreational applications. Though, this drug is illegal in most part of the world but widely consumed by millennial. Growing popularity of marijuana is also attributed by its rising medicinal applications. The evolution of medical marijuana or medical cannabis from an illegal drug to a mainstream legalized drug in certain parts of the globe is catalyzing the growth of medical marijuana market. Recently, Canada has passed nationwide legalization of recreational cannabis use, following Uruguay to become the second country to do so. In addition to this, Canada is one of only two countries, besides the Netherlands, that exports cannabis products, which allows companies in Canada to gain instant revenue from recent medical cannabis according to CBC.

The economic benefits of legalizing weed have already been apparent as the first states have moved to change their legal positions. In 2018, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center, 62 % of Americans support marijuana legalization. It is almost double the number of those who supported legalization in 2000. Weed is currently legal in some form in 46 states in United States, though the majority only allow use for medical purposes. Thus, legal marijuana presents the possibility of tremendous opportunities to economies on a states and a national scale. In January 2018, Aurora Cannabis Inc. entered into a joint venture with Alfred Pedersen & Son, with an aim to become the largest medical marijuana producer in Europe. Additionally, legal marijuana could mean a big push for state economies and big bucks for both the state and the federal governments.

Marijuana legalization could help to secure the investment portfolios of investors across the country and further afield as well. While marijuana remains illegal on the federal level, it is difficult for investors to capitalize on the growth of the industry. The number of marijuana-related companies trading on public stock exchanges is miniscule, and while investors do have the option of working with over-the-counter exchanges, many of the most successful businesses in the early legal cannabis space have been based in Canada or other countries. In Canada, the Cannabis Act makes marijuana sales and consumption, even for recreational use, fully legal. Regulations vary across Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories. For instance, Ontario public can only purchase weed online via the government-run Ontario Cannabis Store, whereas in Saskatchewan, only licensed private retail stores can sell the marijuana pot. Moreover, in Quebec people can smoke anywhere, tobacco is allowed. In Yukon Territory, Cannabis consumption is only permitted in private residences and adjoining properties.

The marijuana industry ramping up worldwide, and with millions of square feet of new marijuana production facilities planned for the U.S. and Canada in the forthcoming years to accommodate new legal markets. The legal status of medical marijuana across the globe is the most crucial market determinant that is fuelling and hindering the growth of the global marijuana market.