Tilray © 2014 HA Photography.com

There are millions of people worldwide with chronic diseases and other medical conditions whose lives could be improved with better access to medical cannabis. Meanwhile, for the past decade and a half, Canada has built the most sophisticated medical cannabis framework in the world. These circumstances present an exceptional opportunity for trade leadership on the international stage. Last year, the amount spent on cannabis worldwide — including medical cannabis — was US$150 billion. By comparison, Canada's crude oil exports totalled C$49.8 billion in 2016. The federal government must proactively make medical cannabis exports part of its innovation agenda. With the right approach, the industry has the potential to be a significant contributor to Canada's biotechnology and life sciences sectors. We should leverage the success of Canada's domestic medical cannabis model to address the gap in access to quality products worldwide. Thanks to the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) and their predecessor regulations, Canada already has a growing network of experienced, responsible licensed producers committed to meeting and exceeding Health Canada's high safety and security standards from seed to sale. More than 167,000 Canadians have come to rely on the quality of domestically produced products to ease the symptoms of conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder, epilepsy, cancer, and chronic pain — an increase of 123 per cent since April 2016.

Tilray Tilray medical cannabis Capsules.

Tilray serves tens of thousands of patients domestically. We also receive orders from governments, researchers, hospitals and pharmaceutical distributors around the world seeking pharmaceutical-grade medical cannabis products. In December 2016, Tilray became the first medical cannabis producer in North America to have a certificate of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) compliance published in the European Union's GMP database. GMP certification is the most rigorous standard that manufacturers of medical products must meet in their production processes and enables our company to expand our international distribution. In 2016, Tilray became the first company to legally export medical cannabis products from North America to Australia and the European Union. Earlier this year, we made our first export to Latin America. Under the current terms of the ACMPR — which are designed to prioritize domestic production and supply — the ability of licensed producers to meet global demand is still limited. Producers need fewer hurdles and more certainty so we can serve patients in need in nascent markets. Canada's medical cannabis framework must be updated to better facilitate the ability of licensed producers to supply products to these markets for medical treatment, research and clinical trials. The federal government should work expeditiously to encourage, not curtail, their efforts in this field.

Tilray A Tilray employee at the Nanaimo, B.C. processing facility.