Canada’s Cannabis Experiment a Success
Dr. Charlebois Does a Deep Dive into Canada’s Cannabis Experiment to See What’s Working – LPC
An opinion piece on Canada’s cannabis experiment outlines how Canadians have lost their fear of cannabis and come to embrace it. Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, who wrote the opinion piece for the CTV news website with Brian Sterling, is senior director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University. He starts his piece by saying the cannabis industry’s comeback looks promising.
“Players in the field are slowly getting their footing back and settling into a different North American market versus pre-pandemic,” Dr. Charlebois said. “More mergers and acquisitions are pointing to a more mature marketplace.”
Besides that, attitudes towards cannabis are becoming more positive. Initial fears of a cannabis consumption spike never happened.
“In the latest assessment by Dalhousie University (the university where he works), support for legalization has surged to over 78 percent of respondents, up from 49 percent in 2019, placing Canadians’ cannabis approval levels above those in some U.S. states,” he wrote.
“Disagreement with legalization has decreased to 14 percent from 30 percent in the previous study in 2019. Fully 56 percent of Canadians say they do not agree that municipalities should be able to ban (legal) cannabis outlets within their boundaries; almost a complete reversal of opinion from 2017. While 65 percent of Canadians say they do not mind if restaurants put edibles on their menus, the portion of ‘canna-curious’ has dropped to 13 percent from 26 percent. Self-stigmatization also declined in Canada, with fewer expressing concern about others knowing they consume cannabis.”
Canada’s Cannabis Experiment Reinforces Canadian Values – LPC
At the same time, Dr. Charlebois acknowledged that Canada’s cannabis experiment still follows Canadian values. Fear has not subsided because of complacency. It’s subsided because the experiment is showing how safe cannabis can be.
“Although worry in many respects is declining, the Canadian government is fully aware that Canadians remain concerned about public safety related to cannabis… More than 63 percent of Canadians are concerned for the safety of children,” he wrote.
Although the cannabis industry has not grown as much as many expected, Dr. Charlebois said that there is still room to grow. It more than doubled in 2020 to $2.6 billion. “We expect more growth in 2021 as the stigma continues to temper over time.”
The real growth though will come in the US as more states including Connecticut legalize cannabis.
Dr. Charlebois does not directly mention anything about loosening cannabis rules in his opinion piece. He seems to support all public safety measures. But cannabis marketing, in particular, is an area where many feel there are too many restrictions. (Read below about how LPC can help you with marketing within the legal cannabis industry.)
All in all, Dr. Charlebois seems to believe the Canadian cannabis experiment is a success. Although sales are not as high as once predicted – we suspect Ontario’s slow roll-out of retail cannabis stores is the reason – there is room to grow.
Read the Full Story on the CTV News Website
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