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As the Oct. 17 launch of the recreational market quickly approaches, we need to acknowledge the diversity of opinion on how to handle cannabis in Canada. The decisions we make now are critical to the success, sustainability and safety of the cannabis market in the future. That is why I respectfully disagree with some in the medical community who believe that, post-legalization, two distinct medical and recreational cannabis systems will be unnecessary. Ignoring the distinct purposes and objectives of these two systems would lead to a significant missed opportunity for the medical cannabis industry and for patients benefitting from cannabis use.

Canada’s medical cannabis regime is considered a global model, and our actions are being carefully observed. Aphria has been working in the medical cannabis space for four years and our experience tells us that the world is moving toward an increasingly robust medical cannabis market. The reality is that cannabis is already an important part of the global medical landscape, but we’ve only scratched the surface of the plant’s medicinal potential.