Canada is taking major steps towards the legalization of recreational marijuana for the whole country. It seems like the provinces in the country are preparing themselves for the move. It is because the government of New Brunswick has announced a Memorandum of Understanding with Zenabis. The company will be involved with the safe and secure supply of cannabis and any cannabis derivatives in the province. This will be majorly for the recreational use.
So, how big is this MOU? With so much fuss and hype around it, many people would want to understand what are the contents of the MOU. Well, Zenabis will be providing up to 4 million grams of pot and other derivative products to the province. The value of such a large amount of cannabis is estimated to be around $40 to 50 million.
That is not all, the announcement is also going create about 450 new jobs over the next two years. This will largely benefit those living in the village of Atholville where Zenabis has a large state-of-the-art facility that it uses for the production and distribution of medical marijuana currently. With more demand for recreational marijuana, more people would have to be involved to ensure that the quota is met at all times.
Other than the large 393,000 square foot facility in Athloville, Zenabis still owns a second facility of the size 30,000 square feet in Delta, B.C. The company is in the stages of securing a license that would see it start using the 280,000 sq.ft facility located in Stellarton. When these three facilities are combined, Zenabis should have enough capacity to deliver all the weed that the province and the country at large needs. It will also be the only coast to coast cannabis licensed producer in the country.
Kevin Croft, Zenabis CEO, says that many provincial governments have been looking to partner with licensed producers. This is with an aim to ensure that they get a supplier who would be reliable and still deliver high-quality cannabis all the time. It is not just marijuana flowers, but also the cannabis derivatives. Croft is happy to among the first companies to make such historic agreements with the provincial governments.
New Brunswick is trying to make sure that as the country enters the use of the recreational marijuana era, the province will be ready for business. The province wants to also make sure that its residents can get safe and secure of the recreational marijuana whenever they need to have it. Since it has partnered with one of the best brands in the sector, it should be easy to see how recreational cannabis will be easily available in the province once legalized in 2018.
Health Canada records show that 200,000 clients had registered to easily receive medical marijuana in the first quarter of 2017. Out of this population, 6,000 of the clients come from New Brunswick. You could say that the province had made a smart decision to choose their marijuana partner early.
The demand for marijuana in the country is estimated at about 795,000 kilograms. It is expected that more producers are going to be licensed by the end of 2017. This can help with raising the production needed by the country. Currently, the producers can only manage 100,000 kilograms of marijuana annually.
It is always important that the demand does not outstrip the supply. This would as well as drive the users back to the black market. The aim of legalizing recreational marijuana is to kill the black market and get the revenue to the government.
The Zenabis deal is not the only one the New Brunswick leadership might be making soon. The leadership is looking to attract more pharmaceutical minds, investors, researchers, and entrepreneurs to handle the marijuana sector in the area.
