4 years ago, Canada legalized cannabis

If there was one figure to remember from these 4 years of legalization of cannabis in Canada, it would probably be that 68% of consumers are now sourcing from the legal market according to estimates by Statistics Canada.

The big winner of regulation, however, is not the cannabis enthusiast, but the Canadian government, which spent around 440 million $CA per year for drug prohibition, now collects 250 million $CA per year in direct taxes and has generated over 15 billion $CA in tax revenues since legalization.

By way of comparison, the legal cannabis market represents half of the beer market in Canada. last July, with 395 million $CA in sales, 10 times more than in the first month of legalization, with over 3,300 stores in its territory, 33 times more than in October 2018.

So, of course, regulation isn't perfect. The country is currently examining its legalization. to evaluate the work accomplished and learn how and where to adapt to meet its objectives of protecting public health and maintaining public safety.

Consumers and manufacturers alike are calling for a relaxation of overly strict regulations. Anything not sold legally continues to be sold on the black market. Canada's most French-speaking province, for example, still bans edibles or the THC cartridges for vaping, which are not hard to find off the SQDC shelves. Quebec also restricts the self-cultivation of cannabis. And only 98 branches have opened in 4 years, with fairly high prices, sometimes cramped opening hours and fluctuating delivery possibilities, whereas Ontario has opened more than 1,500 stores over the same period for a population twice as large.

For their part, the cannabis companies denounce high taxes that prevent them from generating profits - and keeping their shareholders happy. A 100$ CA investment made in Canopy Growth on October 17, 2018 - cannabis legalization day -. is only worth 5.16 $CA. Excessively high forecasts, strong competition and falling sales prices on the recreational market have led to the downfall of many production and retail companies.

The micro-licensing model gives a new lease of life to small-scale growers, who can now start producing or processing small quantities of cannabis, generally in a short circuit, and with products that are much more artisanal than the large clean rooms of the big LPs.

What about the impact on public health? Canada hasn't seen massive shipments of heroin or crack arrive in the pockets of pushers and teenagers haven't flocked to cannabis as prohibition advocates like to repeat.

The younger people also consume less cannabis since legalization, and the increase in use in Canada, attributed in particular to the greater availability of the product, the greater ease of talking about it and periods of confinement, is broadly in line with global trends, with no notable explosion to date in either use or problematic use, or in psychoses and other mental illnesses.

Canada has given ideas to a growing number of countries, including the United States. Luxembourg, Malta, l’Germany, the Thailand or the Czech Republic, who are working to implement legalization on a national scale. Even the The United States recently took a small step towards reforming its cannabis laws.

But Canada's ambitions don't stop there. The task force in charge of its regulation hopes to achieve to 80% of the legal market by 2028.