Alberta cannabis producers call for change on government act
Posted February 17, 2023 10:21 am.
Last Updated February 17, 2023 10:24 am.
Canadian cannabis producers say they need the government to act on high taxes and regulations they say are harming the industry – and putting profits back into the hands of the black market.
“When you take pharmaceuticals, liquor and tobacco, we get the worst regulations,” said Jeffrey Gossain, chief operating officer of Atlas Growers Ltd. “Marketing regulations of tobacco, the packaging of pharmaceuticals, and the distribution model of liquor where you have to sell to the province.”
Gossain, of Alberta-born cannabis producer Atlas, tells CityNews that federal and provincial government regulations are stacked against them.
Atlas along with other Canadian producers are hoping they’ll be heard by officials in Ottawa, saying that right now it is more profitable to export medicinal cannabis to other parts of the world than sell legal recreational cannabis at home.
“When you look at if you’re selling within Canada, if $100 of Cannabis is sold in a retail store, the general metric we use is that $40 of that is revenue.”
After being delayed, officials in Ottawa announced in the fall of 2022 that it will be conducting a review of the cannabis act.
