Become A Featured Company

Health Canada’s MMPR Struggles to Find Solid Ground

Ryan Allway

February 2nd, 2015

Policy, Top News

Health Canada’s Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (“MMPR”) was designed to simplify the process of growing and selling medical marijuana within the country. Unlike the old Medical Marijuana Access Regulations (“MMAR”) that it replaced, the MMPR program sought to license private and public corporations to grow and distribute medical marijuana in a much more cost-effective and controlled manner than government and individual growing.

Since its implementation in 2012-2013, the MMPR program has approved just 23 licensed producers (“LPs”) – instead of the 60 that it originally projected by this time – and costs associated with reviewing applications alone has exceeded $2 million.

Several companies in the space have complained that Health Canada continues to “move the goal posts” when it comes to regulatory approval, creating a lot of uncertainty for both management teams and investors in these projects. Of course, many more companies are unwilling to discuss their frustrations publicly for fear of incurring Health Canada’s wrath.

[stockchart symbol=TWMJF]

The other problem is that existing LPs have already run into issues with medical marijuana production. Peace Naturals has already recalled two batches of medical marijuana citing contamination issues, while Tweed Marijuana Inc. [stockquote symbol=TWMJF] reportedly had some of its medical marijuana shipments seized by the Canadian police. With these problems already occurring with just 23 LPs, the agency may be hesitant to approve many others.

The high level of uncertainty within the industry hasn’t helped many public companies that are pursuing regulatory approvals. Over the past year, many public companies in the space have seen their shares decline significantly as approvals become increasingly uncertain. Many of these companies have also spent millions of dollars building out facilities after receiving “Ready to Build” letters only to wait to hear back from the agency.

These dynamics have led some companies to move into ancillary businesses that are focused on selling into the United States markets, where many U.S. states have already implemented programs. With both medical and adult-use approvals in many states, the United States has seen its marijuana industry dramatically expand over the past year. The problem is that there is uncertainty on a federal level as to how long legalization will last.

In the end, many Canadian companies waiting for MMPR approvals will continue to wait as the agency works through its backlog.

This article was published by CFN Enterprises Inc. (OTCQB: CNFN), owner and operator of CFN Media, the industry’s leading agency and digital financial media network dedicated to the burgeoning CBD and legal cannabis industries. Call +1 (833) 420-CNFN for more information.

About Ryan Allway

Mr. Allway has over a decade of experience in the financial markets as both a private investor and financial journalist. He has been actively involved in the cannabis industry since its inception, covering public and private companies.

Network Partners

Follow Us on Social Media

LinkedIn

About CFN Media Group

CFN Enterprises Inc. (OTCQB: CNFN) owns and operates CFN Media Group, the premier agency and financial media network reaching executives, entrepreneurs and consumers worldwide. Through its proprietary content creation, video library, and distribution via www.CannabisFN.com, CFN has built an extensive database of cannabis interest, assisting many of the world’s largest cannabis firms and CBD brands to build awareness and thrive. For more information, please visit www.cfnenterprisesinc.com.

Disclaimer: Matters discussed on this website contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, may from time-to-time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and will increase or decrease such positions without notice. The Information contains forward-looking statements, i.e. statements or discussions that constitute predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, estimates, or projections as indicated by such words as "expects", "will", "anticipates", and "estimates"; therefore, you should proceed with extreme caution in relying upon such statements and conduct a full investigation of the Information and the Profiled Issuer as well as any such forward-looking statements. Any forward looking statements we make in the Information are limited to the time period in which they are made, and we do not undertake to update forward looking statements that may change at any time; The Information is presented only as a brief "snapshot" of the Profiled Issuer and should only be used, at most, and if at all, as a starting point for you to conduct a thorough investigation of the Profiled Issuer and its securities and to consult your financial, legal or other adviser(s) and avail yourself of the filings and information that may be accessed at www.sec.gov, www.pinksheets.com, www.otcmarkets.com or other electronic sources, including: (a) reviewing SEC periodic reports (Forms 10-Q and 10-K), reports of material events (Form 8-K), insider reports (Forms 3, 4, 5 and Schedule 13D); (b) reviewing Information and Disclosure Statements and unaudited financial reports filed with the Pink Sheets or www.otcmarkets.com; (c) obtaining and reviewing publicly available information contained in commonlyknown search engines such as Google; and (d) consulting investment guides at www.sec.gov and www.finra.com. You should always be cognizant that the Profiled Issuers may not be current in their reporting obligations with the SEC and OTCMarkets and/or have negative signs at www.otcmarkets.com (See section below titled "Risks Related to the Profiled Issuers, which provides additional information pertaining thereto). For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice and that of their own professional advisers. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, may be compensated for its Services in the form of cash-based and/or equity-based compensation in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two. For full disclosure, please visit: https://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/. A short time after we acquire the securities of the foregoing company, we may publish the (favorable) information about the issuer referenced above advising others, including you, to purchase; and while doing so, we may sell the securities we acquired. In addition, a third-party shareholder compensating us may sell his or her shares of the issuer while we are publishing favorable information about the issuer. Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this article contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority, and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, may from time to time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and will increase or decrease such positions without notice. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice and that of their own professional advisers. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, may be compensated for its Services in the form of cash-based and/or equity- based compensation in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two. For full disclosure please visit: https://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/.

Copyright © Accelerize Inc. · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy · Legal Disclaimer

loading