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The pending legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada may be attracting all the attention these days, but for Liberty Health Sciences Inc. chief executive George Scorsis, it’s the opportunities that lie south of the border that are all-consuming.

Florida-based Liberty, which until this month counted cannabis giant Aphria among its largest shareholders, has been building a foothold in a rapidly growing U.S. medical cannabis market that is expected to have sales of US$13.3 billion by 2020.

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So far, that foothold includes 250,000 square feet of greenhouse space, a handful of dispensaries and a rapidly growing patient base.

But it’s the potential to eventually pivot into other sectors, from health and wellness to the adult-use market, should the latter ever be legalized federally in the U.S., that may be the most tantalizing.

“(Health and wellness) is the segment in which we need to control the supply chain before it goes mainstream,” says Scorsis, a former president of Red Bull Canada who now splits his time between Canada and Florida. “We are going to create new brands. My job is to commercialize businesses.”