Canada’s cannabis industry lessons - smoking hot, but full of stumbles

LONDON — The South African Constitutional Court ruling in September 2018 on the decriminalisation of marijuana for personal use has increased pressure on the government to change its policy on the cannabis industry. In his Budget speech in February 2019, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni acknowledged that there is a need for a shift in policy so that it can become a potential source of revenue. But he is passing that joint… sorry he said ball to the leadership of the ANC to come up with a policy. It is hard not to use clichés with this one. And where legalisation falls, businesses move in to see whether they can make money from new opportunities. With the shift in mood in South Africa, a host of industries are poised to take advantage as can be seen at a series of Cannabis Expos all over the country. There is no doubt that many countries are moving towards some form of legalisation of marijuana. In the United Kingdom, one of the magic circle law firms, Allen & Overy now has a cannabis legal team. Canada, which legalised recreational and medicinal cannabis in October last year is seen to be the country that is paving the way for the cannabis industry. But as Craig Wiggins explained to Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal the industry has been besieged by problems. - Linda van Tilburg