Medical marijuana plants. (BlackburnNews.com file photo by Ricardo Veneza)Medical marijuana plants. (BlackburnNews.com file photo by Ricardo Veneza)
Windsor

Licensed Producers Ready For Marijuana Legalization

With recreational weed expected to be sold to millions of Canadians, a Leamington-based medical marijuana producer says it's ideally situated to meet that kind of demand.

Aphria says legalizing pot by Canada Day of next year is in line with their growth plans.

"We've launched our Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 expansions that will eventually provide us with over a million sq ft of production area that will be able to generate 70,000 kgs of product," says Chief Financial Officer Carl Merton. "Currently we're only at 2,600 kg."

Merton says Part 2 of the company's greenhouse expansion is now complete, and awaiting a Health Canada inspection.  Aphria's 200,000 sq ft Part 3 expansion at their facility in Leamington is on schedule for Health Canada approval in early 2018.

According to a CBC report Sunday, the federal government is creating the rules for the cultivation of marijuana, but will leave it up to the provinces to decide who will be allowed to sell pot. In Ontario, the premier has mused about an LCBO model. Merton says that leaves licensed producers well-positioned to supply the recreational market.

"But there's still a need for more sources of product to meet the eventual demand that's forecasted for the industry," he says. "An LCBO concept -- like a cannabis control board -- would make a great deal of sense in terms of regulating the supply into retail storefronts."

Merton says the target date is likely on the ambitious side, noting some big questions remain unanswered.

"It'll probably be a question of which provincial governments are equipped to make that decision quickly and which will need more time," says Merton, adding he doesn't expect Aphria to grow to 1-million sq ft before 2019. "We're very excited that there is now a date, but there is a significant amount of work that has to be done between now and then for the entire country to be ready for this."

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