With the legalization of recreational marijuana 11 months away, the Chief Commercial Officer of Organigram says there are still a lot of question marks.
Ray Gracewood says the tight July 2018 timeline is causing some concerns.
“The biggest concern that we’ve articulated is that the current network of licensed producers will likely not be able to supply the recreational market right across Canada,” says Gracewood.
He adds as a result, many producers are rapidly scaling up production to try to meet demand by Canada Day next year.
“We’re confident in how we’re doing that, both strategically, efficiently and safely,” says Gracewood. “But at the end of the day, we’re 11 months away from the advent of adult recreational use which is not an awful lot of time.”
Gracewood says the question marks are many, but “at the same time, we have been given direction on the kind of products that will be available and that’s how we’ve structured our initial plan to make sure that we’re as ready as we possibly can be in July.”
In a presentation last week to the provincial Select Committee On Cannabis, Gracewood reported the national recreational marijuana market is expected to grow to 425,000 kilograms by 2021, with the New Brunswick share, by population, around 9,000 kg.
