This is a great question and a field that I have some experience in at this point.
I live in a small town called WIlliams Lake, BC, a population of just over 10,000.
Over the winter, our city council unanimously voted towards being a “pro-cannabis business community”. Before this, my dream of being a Farm owner was only an idea. After hearing this news I got in contact with my partner and we agreed this was a good point to move forward.
I spent the next several month communicating with Aldermans on the council developing a relationship to try and let them know what we needed as a company and what they required as a municipality. I also spent that time working closely with a Realtor who believed in our ventures.
Fast forward to a couple of week ago. The city hosted an open house where the public where able to voice concerns about their proposed bylaw changes.
I was able to get these plans before hand to study and I found out very quickly that our government has no idea what they’re doing! Yes they changed the bylaws to welcome Cannabis Farmers and Retailers alike, but they were so restrictive that it became impossible for us. In the allocated area there were only two available properties, one is 5-6x over my budget, the other isn’t suitable for many reasons, including the geography.
I was the first person to speak to the city and I spoke about all of their missed points, including how they’re going to miss out on tourism possibilities, outside investments, and population growth. The entire time I was speaking they looked at me with dumbfounded looks upon their faces.
It became very clear to me very quickly that the people who are in charge of making these laws are in serious need of education.
That being said it’s hard to say if there are any good examples to show you for zoning regs that work. As far as I know, most LP’s that are up and running now had to get individual agreement and re-zoning permits to build their farms, and that just might be the route we have to go as well. So to ease our process, we looked at areas throughout the country and have found a strong concentration of LP’s within an area and we feel this is going to be our best bet to also get the zones to where we need them.
As for how Canadians can lead the way, I think we can take a good example from CO when they first legalized Recreational Cannabis. I think it’s fair to say that a lot of the progress this industry has made is a direct result of their initiative. They just got up and did it. But it didn’t come without it’s shortfalls. Through trial and error, they now have a flourishing industry. I think true pioneering processes like that are going to be the key for success for Canada, and other governments that follow suit.
What I think is unique about Canada is that we have a true free market unlike Uruguay, and that is it a true Federal level market, unlike the US. While the zoning issue is still somewhat of an issue, provinces have recognised that they must change their zoning laws in order to accommodate. Does that mean that they are going to change them in a way that is actually going to work? It’s hard to say.
I think the biggest lesson here is that we as an industry need to work as closely with our governments as possible to educate them about our unique needs to operate and to come to a common grounds of agreement that works for all parties.
So 11 am is upon us and it looks like we have robust conversation brewing already! Let’s open the AMA up and get this party started! Load up those questions and fire away!
Firstly, a big thank you to Bryan for taking the time to answers some Q’s today!
In seems like provinces in Canada are accommodating the new regulations set forth at the National level. Zoning aside, what impact do you think these new regulations will have at the local level? How will legalization affect your community directly?
Faezeh, you bring up some great questions! These are questions that I had myself before I joined GNet!
I think it’s important to remember that no two farms are alike. Each one is going to have it’s own individualistic needs depending on how the Grower or the Owner decides how to operate as a whole. While I have made decisions for my own company, I cannot give you an exact recommendation for your farm. What you need could be completely different from what I do.
What I would suggest, would be to spend as much time on GNet as possible. Ask all sorts of questions and read as many threads as possible. That’s what I did and I am very confident in my concept as a whole because of it and have felt validated many times.
Here is a great thread about CO2 levels -
Does anybody in the GNet community have any recommendations for Faezeh?
I think that my favourite part is the fact that this is a true moment in history. No country in the world has legalized to this level before. And that gives us a great opportunity to set a worldwide example. Is it going to be easy? Not even close. But that the great thing about it, we are able to make it easier for future generations to live the life Human Beings should, happily.
We are able to set the ground work for future generations to be able to get into a business they otherwise wouldn’t able to. We are able to take those difficulties and “take the hit” and improve on the industry to where it’s as normal to our kids like alcohol is to us.
President Trump DAYS after Bill C-45 passed through the senate here said that he would consider legalisation in the south (thanks to a well timed proposal in my very personal opinion). And during the G7 summit the WHO said that Cannabis “isn’t that bad”, again just days after C-45. What glorious worldwide progress! All within the last 30 days and all thanks to the effort of Canada. Never again in our lifetime will we ever see such political reform in the western world, at least not one that is so important to me.
These, and for so many more reasons Nick, am I so very excited to start my ventures in this incredible industry.
I think you’re correct: Canada very will lead the way to total social and cultural acceptance of cannabis. The rest of the world will live by Canada’s example!
It must be nice to have your country set a good example on the World Stage and lead the way in common sense reform efforts!
I think there will be a significant positive impact on communities as a whole. To be specific to my community though, I think there will be both positive and negative consequences. First, I think that the companies that will set up here will bring employment to a dying logging town in a time when it needs it the most. There could be great opportunities for tourism with farm tours etc, but like I said before, they’re being so restrictive that a lot of companies will just move on to another city that will be more accommodating like we have decided to do.
They claim to be “pro-cannabis business” and yet they still raid to local medical dispensary (where my fiancee works) trying to shut them down. Granted the dispensary is operating in the famous Canadian “grey area”, but the owner (who is a dear friend of mine) has developed a level of trust with the people of this town that cannot be broken. He was the first retailer in town and has helped countless people in the many ways we all know Cannabis can help and there has been nothing but support from the people.
So the question became, how can I trust their “pro” opinion when they still show prejudice against the industry now? Should I expect the same prejudice with my completely legal farm? That’s not a liability i’m willing to take on.
For the communities that are willing to truly embrace this industry there comes a great amount of opportunity. Jobs, taxations, investment, tourism, economic development as a whole. What negative is there really?
However, the stigma still stands strong and that is a fight that is going to last a long time for all of us. As long as we work with our local communities we can develop a plan that can be beneficial to everybody.
Im sorry Nick, but due to the infancy of our company that information is proprietary at the moment.
But what I can say is this, you guys are going to love it! Once we have funding and start construction we will then be able to start posting pictures and give more specific details them.
I will start a thread much like @Farmer_Dan has done for his farm and I would encourage anybody who is able to, to do the same. It’s such a great way to learn! I’m very much looking forward to be able to share that information once I am able to.
I’m an American, who had a cultivation license in Rhode Island before moving to BC to join the cannabis field out here.
I have been working at a LP in Canada since early January.
It takes a lot longer than a year to get a sales license. Probably more like 3. And thus, 3-years + without any revenue. Plus, judging from the US, there will be a glut of supply (despite forecasts otherwise) and the prices will drop. Some of the big LPs (Aurora, Canopy Aphria) are starting to look like colonizers in the sense that they keep acquiring more (too big to fail) and more globally.
The other issue from my perspective is that you have a government organization (Health Canada) managing cannabis, but very skeptically and not really supporting it as medicine. So as we move towards legalization, cannabis is considered similar to tobacco and alcohol, with a lot of the stigma still firmly in place. Don’t get me wrong; all this is unbelievably historic and I am pleased to be a part of it, especially working for a LP with good management and ethics (which is key).
But I must also admit that despite being passionately involved in cannabis since the 90’s, it does feel a bit like a transfer of resources and capital from one group to another though. The majority of LP licenses are in Ontario, regardless of the long history of BC bud. And a 7-billion grey market industry already exists. So it will be really interesting to see how it all plays out.
If the government doesn’t manage to allow small micro cultivators (and others) to easily participate, it will fail to eradicate the grey market. IMHO. Decriminalizing before legalizing would have helped.
Anyway, some random thoughts. Greater involvement has shifted my thinking to one that is much more pragmatic and not quite as idealistic.
To answer the question about prices, it’s hard to say. In developing my model tried to look at the market south of the border (not mexico) to see what happened there. And I found the market to depend completely on the State framework that has been put into place.
I think a great example is OR. While we have heard on happy ears that the Cannabis Black Market is all but gone now thanks to the legal framework. Luckily they were able to produce enough to outstock them and they were able to do it cheaper as well. But at what cost? Now we hear of the lowest wholesale prices ever. Pros and Cons to that story I think.
That being said I am hoping that here we will be able to not undersell the illicit market exactly, but rather gain the trust of the public so that it doesn’t come down to price, but quality, consistency and accessibility. Why would I go to my neighbour to buy his home made liquor when there’s a 12 year old bottle of Canadian Whiskey at the store for just a little more money? Im going to the store personally, although I’m sure some of you Americans would argue different when moonshine is brought into the mix.
If we are able to achieve that level of trust then I expect retail prices to stay at the federally predicted ranged of $10/g for at least the next five years. After that its hard to say with the volatile prices of operating expenses like electricity, but I think it would be safe to say that there won’t be a huge diminish in price like OR.
As for the future as a whole @nick, I think it’s all about growth from here. In two years from now I would say that the market should be settled by then. Most of the key players will be up and operating by then, ourselves included, networking and compliance issue should be smoothed out and the market should be established as a whole. In that time edibles should be approved and that market will take off like wildfire, like we see in CO and NV.
In five years, I think there will be the next big cultural change and the next stage in the Cannabis revolution. By then the market would have been established by some time. Stigmas will be on the downfall (hopefully) and society should be more accepting of Cannabis use as a whole. All of our points should be proven by them and there will be a need for the laws to change once again. This will allow businesses that are operating to hoping be able to market their product in a way much like we see liquor advertisements now.
In 10 years I think that there will be so many untold technological advances that the industry wont be anything like we see it today. There will be a more scientific approach taken and more research will be done on the Cannabis and Hemp plants. This will open the industry to many different sub-indutries that will all support each other in a web of businesses. A “specialist” type of approach if you will.
When suplament Co2 you can increase the ppm in you nutrient solution and raise your room temps about 5 degrees because your plant are able to matabalize at a greater rate.
