Government owned cannabis is gaining speed. At least, it is in Canada. This week, I saw a tweet from MJ Biz Daily business journalist, Matt Lamers, that said:
The most profitable cannabis businesses in Canada are owned by the government. Provincial monopoly cannabis wholesalers profit/loss (most recent FY): Ontario: $70.2 million; Quebec: $66.5 million; BC: $22.4 million; NB: [$16.5 million]; Alberta: $7 million (forecast).
His sources for those numbers are embedded in this thread at the third tweet. Private Canadian players have apparently lost a combined total of $15.5 billion this year.
The concept of government owned and run cannabis businesses in the U.S. does not get a lot of play legally, politically, or otherwise. Part of that is because cannabis remains a federally illegal schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. Essentially, there’s nothing to stop the Department of Justice from arresting and prosecuting anyone that traffics in an illegal drug, including government employees (and don’t forget various other preemption issues).
In Canada, however, government owned cannabis is pretty much ruling the day when it comes to profit. Canada specifically set it up this way under its Cannabis Act (which legalized cannabis in 2018) where provincial governments can
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