Canadian Market Remains Open for Medical Cannabis Home Growing

In late December, a Canadian federal
appeals court unanimously ruled that medical patients can continue to grow
cannabis at home.  The ruling is an
injunction to sustain the status quo while the larger issue of domestic home
growing is decided by the same court in February. 

Under Canada’s first medical cannabis law,
patients were allowed to either grow their own, use a designated caregiver or
purchase supplies directly from Health Canada. 
Rules introduced in early 2014 however, prohibited personal grows in
favor of a federally licensed commercial business instead.  This decision, in turn, sparked legal action
in the form of an injunction against the new regulations by patients, now, held
up until at least February.

Unlike the U.S., where this issue has not
yet become a hot topic beyond Washington State, commercial growers in Canada
were vocal in support of the new regulations because it meant new
business.  In the United States, however,
while the battle lines may already be drawn, there has yet to be the same kind
of widespread showdown over this issue simply because the industry is not yet
national.

In Washington State, the first state to ban
home grows in a recreationally legal industry, opponents to I-502 –  the recreational initiative passed in 2012— citizens
were very concerned about such measures. 
Colorado still allows home growing  for medical patients, as does Oregon.

The changing winds north of the border
however, could spell an equally sweeping trend in the lower 48, particularly on
the recreational side.  The huge tax
windfalls that states stand to gain, at least in the short term from a highly
taxed recreational market, is the prize that all eyes in America, both in the
industry itself and state governments, are now focused on.