What a legacy: a call to action to facilitate entry into the licensed cannabis market in Canada
Drugs, Habits and Social Policy
ISSN: 2752-6739
Article publication date: 13 June 2023
Issue publication date: 12 September 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Almost five years after legalization, the unlicensed cannabis market is still thriving in Canada, and legacy cannabis retailers continue to face barriers to legal market entry. This study aims to shed light on these challenges and offer policy recommendations supporting legacy retailers and the government’s goals of enhancing public safety and displacing the unlicensed market.
Design/methodology/approach
This study reviewed online sources, including the media, gray literature, government, and other policy and legal websites, to identify legacy retailers’ challenges to entering the Canadian ecosystem since legalization and policy approaches of legalized jurisdictions with similar issues.
Findings
Legacy retailers face financial, legal and social barriers to entering the legal market. The Canadian government should focus on lowering and eliminating these barriers by developing programs that reduce financial risks and required capital, facilitate partnership programs and accelerators, provide innovative options that reduce overhead expenses, encourage pooled ownership to support small businesses, prioritize market entry for equity-deserving individuals and enable automatic expungement. A description of programs that have been implemented in other jurisdictions to address similar barriers is provided.
Practical implications
The policy recommendations in this paper would enable increased entrepreneurship and employment in a growing sector. While the tax revenue earned from the new market entrants may not be enough to support all the recommended policy initiatives, it could be reinvested to fund some of them creating sustainable growth opportunities.
Originality/value
The paper provides practical, timely policy recommendations on expanding the legal cannabis market in Canada and addressing unintended negative consequences of current policies.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was jointly supported by the Canadian Institute of Health Research and the Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction.
The authors are grateful to Mandy Woodland for providing valuable feedback on a draft of this paper.
Citation
Wright-Brown, T., Brennan, S., Blackwood, M. and Donnan, J. (2023), "What a legacy: a call to action to facilitate entry into the licensed cannabis market in Canada", Drugs, Habits and Social Policy, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 177-190. https://doi.org/10.1108/DHS-09-2022-0033
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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