For years the United States worried about drugs crossing our borders from other countries, now it seems other countries are crossing our border to get into drugs. Namely – cannabis. While most believe that the U.S. is conservative in its approach to marijuana, the recent push for legalization has suddenly thrust America’s marketplace into a cannabis leadership position.
The potential for the U.S. market is so big, that companies from other countries want in. Israel wants in on the action in New York. Marijuana is illegal in the country, but in a twist, the country is a world leader on its research into the medical uses of marijuana. It won’t export its strains, but will export its knowledge. Tikun Olam, which means ‘healing the world’ in Hebrew, is the only large-scale industrial producer of cannabis in Israel and operates under a license from the Israel Ministry of Health. Tikun Olam announced that it was partnering with Compassionate Care Center of New York and applying to be a Registered Organization under New York’s Compassionate Care Act.
Tikun Olam has the most extensive patient treatment database in the field of medical marijuana with over 10,000 patients being monitored for nearly a decade. A Tikun Olam spokesman said, “We have been waiting for the climate in America to be right for us to enter the market with pharmaceutical-grade products, and now that New York and other states have taken an FDA-styled extract-only approach, we feel we will have the greatest impact on patient health without the risks associated with a more loosely-regulated system.”
MedReleaf , another Canadian manufacturer of medical-grade cannabis announced it entered into an exclusive partnership with New York State Compassionate Care Center of New York. CCCNY has also applied for one of the five licenses to be awarded in New York State and while it hasn’t gotten any approvals, it has established a greenhouse in Newark NY ready for immediate production. MedReleaf operates a 55,000 square foot facility in Markham Ontario and is one of the largest suppliers in the Canadian market. Tikun Olam is also partnered with MedReleaf in Canada and grows some of Tikun’s proprietary strains. Canada has been very progressive in setting up its medical marijuana program and the companies there want to expand.
Tilray, a leading cannabis cultivator in the country is busy sponsoring events in this country and has applied for a New York State medical marijuana license. Tilray prides itself on its product quality and ethics. The producer formed a new ethics group in Canada after it was learned that some medical marijuana producers were offering kickbacks to doctors. The Canadian Cannabis Medical Industry Association was unable to agree on a code of ethics causing Tilray to create the Canadian Medical Cannabis Council. No doubt that will look good to the Americans.
The changes taking place in the US are also affecting Mexico, another long time black market partner. Marijuana seizures at the border are half of what they were five years ago. Mexican farmers are ripping up their cannabis plants and turning to subsidized tomatoes. Mexico decriminalized small amounts of pot, but hasn’t gone as far as the US in legalization. The drug cartels are switching to more expensive products like heroin and luxury strains from Colorado are in demand in Mexico according to Bloomberg and creating a reverse in the trafficking.
The exchange goes both ways. Jamaica may have an established black market business, but its looking to U.S. firms to become legitimate. Jamaica only recently decriminalized marijuana, which is hard to believe that it wasn’t already legal. Any tourist to the country was usually offered ganja on the shuttle bus from the airport to their hotel. Jamaica, the biggest supplier of black market pot to the U.S., kept it illegal to make officials in this country happy. With our laws easing up, they felt like they had the green light to acknowledge that marijuana shouldn’t be punished within its country. United Cannabis Corp based in Colorado has launched a partnership with Jamaican agencies for a marijuana research and development facility. The Cannabinoid Research & Development Company is considering a headquarters in Kingston Jamaica for pharmaceutical research and with the goal to standardize strains.
As the domestic cannabis growers become more established, it isn’t inconceivable they too will want to take their knowledge and experience to other markets. As the medical marijuana market matures, global partnerships will become more frequent blurring those old drug wars.
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