Is Canada Ready For Future United States Cannabis Legalization?

It’s been almost four years since Canada adopted the recreational legalization of marijuana at a federal level. And while the great white north threw itself into the fire and all that comes with nationwide legalization, the United States is slowly making its way there. 

The United States House of Representatives recently passed the Marijuana Opportunity and Reinvestment Act (MORE Act), and it’s currently heading to the Senate for another vote. The main takeaway of the bill is federal decriminalization, meaning the possession, use, and distribution of cannabis are no longer a crime. 

The ‘Reinvestment’ aspect calls for sentencing reviews and expungements regarding those imprisoned for non-violent cannabis crimes. But what does that mean for the country’s northern neighbors?

For starters, the United States already has a thriving cannabis industry, even before decriminalization and legalization. States like Colorado, California, and Oregon have led the way for recreational adult use, illustrating that even statewide legalization is a recipe for success. 

According to the Financial Post, Canada’s nationwide cannabis industry has been incredibly successful, growing in value from $1.2 billion to $2.6 billion from 2019 to 2020. Although Canada is also the world’s largest exporter of legal cannabis, these numbers are nothing compared to what federal legalization would bring to the United States. 

Let’s take a look at California’s numbers, a state with around the same population as the entire country of Canada. Data from Statista shows California’s cannabis market is expected to be valued at 6.46 billion come 2023, triple the size of Canada’s market. 

Aurora Cannabis has been a substantial player in the Canadian cannabis market. The company’s senior vice president and chair of the board for the Canadian Cannabis Council, Rick Savone, gave his two cents on the matter. 

“It’s an important alarm bell for the Canadian government that there are markets around the world that are opening to cannabis,” he explained, hinting that Canada better have a few tricks up its sleeve to compete with the blossoming U.S. market. 

“I do believe that eventually, the U.S. will get there. The political reality is just not there yet,” Savone concluded.

Financial Post reports that although Canada is the world’s leader in legal marijuana exports, which exported 15.6 tons of dried flower and 7.3 kilolitres of oils and extracts in 2020, there’s a bright future for U.S.-based exports to set up larger schemes that might leave Canada in its dust.

There’s still much more news to follow the U.S. MORE Act, which is currently making its way over to the Senate for another vote.