HEXO - The Largest Pot Stock in the World Is Cutting Production Big Time
Roughly a year and a half ago, Canadian marijuana stocks were expected to take the global lead in making cannabis a mainstream product. But despite having this pole position among developed countries, regulatory and operational issues have caused the Canadian pot industry to face-plant.
More specifically, Canadian cannabis growers have been stymied by Health Canada and provincial-level regulatory agencies. Health Canada has been slow to approve cultivation and sales licenses, thereby leaving some major growers waiting in the wings to bring product to market. Health Canada also pushed back the launch of high-margin derivatives by two months. Derivatives are alternative consumption cannabis products, such as edibles, vapes, and infused beverages.
Meanwhile, provincial regulators in Ontario ran with a lottery system to award retail licenses through the end of 2019, resulting in a menial 24 dispensaries being opened in a province with 14.5 million people, as of Oct. 17, 2019, the one-year anniversary of recreational weed sales commencing.