Hemp in the news again, though as usual it’s due to hemp’s cousin – marijuana, the medicinal version.
An article posted on the CBC website on January 28th indicates a very concerning issue for the majority of marijuana users in B.C. is forthcoming – that a shortage may be imminent for the availability of legally grown pot.
The article spells out how few options are currently available under the new regime when the new laws take effect on April 1st, 2014.
So far under the new rules, only five companies have been licensed to produce and sell marijuana. There are four in Ontario and one in Saskatchewan.
Several other companies do advertise online in the hopes of obtaining one of the coveted licenses. Currently, three companies are licensed to produce, but not sell.
Apparently, Health Canada, the ministry in charge predicts medical marijuana to be a billion dollar business within the next ten years.
So it’s to be expected there’s a “gold rush” mentality with 400 applications in to grow it. Of these 100 are from B.C. However, most don’t have the financial ability to meet the very challenging approval standards.
