To stop toxic-drug deaths, governments must provide a safe supply of drugs with the same urgency that they provided people with COVID vaccines, says B.C.’s chief coroner. “We have lost far more people to drug toxicity over the COVID pandemic than we have to COVID,” Lisa Lapointe said. Including the death toll for May, there have been more than 10,000 drug poisoning deaths in B.C. since 2016, when opioid overdoses were declared a public health emergency, she said. While decriminalization alone won’t save lives, said Lapointe, it could when paired with a regulated safe supply of drugs for people dependent on their use. (See also: MPs vote against bill to decriminalize small amounts of drugs across Canada | ‘We are losing a whole generation of Canadians’: Bill to curb toxic drug deaths defeated)

One year after the federal government legalized recreational marijuana, 60 per cent of Canadians are still buying the drug on the black market or from sources that are not entirely legal, according to Statistics Canada data. The Liberal government's main argument for legalization was a push to take the drug out of the hands of children and the profits out of those of criminals. And although the percentage of illegal sales has steadily been going down since Oct. 17 of last year, the black market today remains a $4-billion-a-year industry, according to numbers from Statistics Canada. Those illegal sales can take many shapes. (See also: Transform: Cannabis legalisation in Canada – One year on)

Despite stagnant revenue, layoffs, facility closings and big losses, the top executives of some of the largest cannabis companies in Canada were awarded millions in bonuses and performance stock grants on top of their sizable salaries in their most recent fiscal years, company filings show. The pay decisions at Canopy Growth Corp, Tilray Inc. (the former Aphria Inc.) and Aurora Cannabis Inc. show the companies are rewarding executives for minimizing cash losses and simply surviving in the Canadian weed industry. Canopy Growth chief executive officer David Klein received a cash bonus of US$1.72-million in addition to his base salary of US$975,000 for the fiscal year ending March 31, even as the company’s net losses grew to $1.7-billion in that time period.

As drug toxicity deaths and overdoses in Canada continue to soar to unprecedented levels due to the increasingly volatile illicit market, advocates and doctors are calling for more stimulants including cocaine to be part of safe supply efforts. “I would welcome the inclusion of cocaine, as well as methamphetamine, frankly, in safe supply programs. This is something that is urgently needed due to the severe risks associated with the illicit stimulant supply,” said Ryan McNeil, who researches drug use and policy in Canada as director of Harm Reduction Research at the Yale University School of Medicine. “Stimulants too often are an afterthought for decision-makers despite a rapid increase in stimulant-involved overdoses.”

A Vancouver based drug policy researcher has been working for decades to get the federal government to regulate illegal drugs like heroin and cocaine. Don MacPherson authored the groundbreaking Four Pillars Approach to Drug Problems in Vancouver in 2001 — calling for this kind of regulation. Now, 16 years later, and in the midst of a year-long public health emergency in B.C. centred around overdose deaths, MacPherson continues to try to convince politicians that this is the only way out of the overdose crisis. "It's clear that every thing we are doing is not working. It's absolutely pathetic that we can not move beyond this paradigm that we have supported for so many years and at the cost of so many lives." (See also: And the band played on: Overdoses, death and a resistance to change)

As overdose deaths keep surging in Canada, the movement to decriminalize illicit drugs is gaining steam, with one of the country's largest mental health facilities joining national advocates and several major cities in putting pressure on the federal government to act. Earlier this summer, mayors from across B.C. signed a letter in support of Vancouver city officials who are seeking Health Canada's approval to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of illegal drugs. Toronto is gearing up to submit a similar request, a move which follows the city recently hitting its highest one-day opioid overdose count in late July. (See also: BC’s rate of drug toxicity deaths has overtaken Ohio and Pennsylvania)

A new drug-user advocacy group in Vancouver says the safe supply of prescription narcotics must include pharmaceutical-grade heroin and cocaine and — to kickstart the effort — they’ve started giving those drugs away for free themselves. Dozens of people who use drugs marched in the city’s Downtown Eastside and set up an overdose prevention site where they distributed free doses of cocaine that had been tested for fentanyl, carfentanyl, benzodiazepines and other dangerous contaminants. Organizers had planned to distribute up to 200 doses of free heroin as well, but existing supply lines have become so contaminated that they couldn’t find any. Calling itself the Drug User Liberation Front, the group also called on the B.C. government to make broad changes to the current safe supply guidelines.

Vancouver health officials will distribute new crack pipes to non-injection drug users this fall as part of a pilot project aimed at engaging crack cocaine smokers and reducing the transmission of disease such as hepatitis C, HIV and even respiratory illnesses. The program, part of Vancouver's harm reduction strategy, is expected to start in October and run for six months to a year. The intent is to connect health care workers with crack cocaine smokers to evaluate how many of the drug users are in the city and what equipment they need to lower their risk of catching diseases. A kit with a clean, unused pipe, mouthpiece, filter and condoms will be handed out to the participants.

On May 4 in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) distributed 3.5 grams each of fentanyl-free heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine to members of the Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society. The action, dedicated to the 165 people in British Columbia recorded to have died of drug toxicity in March 2022, comes in the wake of Health Canada’s de facto rejection of DULF’s bid to distribute safe supply legally through a compassion club model. On April 21, nearly eight months after receiving the organization’s section 56 exemption request, Health Canada notified DULF that it did not intend to approve it.

Vancouver police have arrested drug policy activists Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum after executing search warrants on the Drug User Liberation Front office and their homes. Since 2020, Nyx and Kalicum have held protest events and operated a compassion club to supply tested heroin, cocaine and meth to drug users, despite the risk of arrest for breaking Canada’s controlled substances laws. Nyx and Kalicum said they were driven to break drug laws through firsthand experience of the overdose crisis. Vancouver police say Nyx and Kalicum were arrested so police could question them as part of an ongoing investigation. DULF has operated a compassion club for months and has frequently spoken to media about the specifics of the model. (See also: Study shows selling tested drugs saves lives)

El negocio mundial del cannabis está valorado actualmente en más de 340.000 millones de dólares (unos 302.000 millones de euros) y cuenta con unos 263 millones de consumidores, según consta en el informe 'La industria del cannabis como inversión' del broker XTB. Más de 200 empresas relacionadas con el uso medicinal del cannabis cotizan en las Bolsas de Canadá y Nueva York, con un total de 80.000 millones de dólares (unos 71.000 millones de euros) en capitalización bursátil, según XTB. La inversión en el sector del cannabis es posible desde hace unos años y actualmente se trata de un mercado en expansión con el avance de la regulación en países como Estados Unidos, Uruguay o Canadá.

Después de pillar un globo llega el gran bajón. Esto vale para el consumo de estupefacientes y para las inversiones en temáticas de moda. Así ha ocurrido con los fondos que invierten en cannabis. Esta industria causó furor entre 2019 y 2020 y atrajo mucho dinero de Wall Street pero en los tres últimos años el globo se han pinchado y los vehículos especializados han perdido un 85% de su valor. Algunos hedge funds incluso han tenido que echar el cierre. A pesar de las previsiones iniciales de una floreciente industria de la marihuana, la realidad ha sido más prosaica. De todas las empresas que entraron en esta industria, muchas no sobrevivieron. La competencia fue tremenda y el mercado no era tan grande.

La legalización canadiense del cannabis recreativo cumplió un año el 17 de octubre. Según una encuesta de Estadísticas Canadá, el 61% de las ventas se efectúan aún en el mercado negro, aunque economistas de Scotiabank calculan que representan el 71%. El discreto número de tiendas autorizadas en el país y sus cortos horarios de servicio, además del tiempo que se demoran los envíos a domicilio cuando se adquiere la hierba legalmente por Internet, benefician a los grupos criminales. Los comestibles y otros derivados del cannabis (como resinas y cremas) entraron en el mercado legal el 16 de diciembre.

Despite concerns that legalizing weed would lead to all hell breaking loose, most things have remained the same—and teens are reporting consuming less weed than before, according to a new report from Statistics Canada.Stats Can has been conducting its National Cannabis Survey, an online questionnaire, since February 2018 in an effort to collect data on Canadians’ cannabis habits before and after legalization. While the data has limitations—it’s based on self-reported surveys and answers haven’t been verified—it does paint a pretty chill post-legalization picture. According to Stats Canada, the rate of cannabis consumption for 15-17 year olds fell from 19.8 percent in 2018 to 10.4 percent in 2019.

All levels of government responded quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic, and harm reduction advocates are wondering why the same hasn't happened for the opioid crisis. "It has been so frustrating and I have often had very intense anger because there are people literally dying in our community and we can't get the attention and the response we need now," said Adrienne Crowder, manager of the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy. "One of the things the pandemic is showing is [the different levels of government] can act together when they need to and they can do so pretty quickly when they need to," Crowder added. "I've been beside myself because of the inability to capture the attention of the decision makers."

Policy changes over the past five years or so have dramatically reshaped the global cannabis market. Not only has there been an unprecedented boom in medical markets, but following policy shifts in several jurisdictions a growing number of countries are also preparing for legal regulation of non-medical use. Such moves look set to bring a clear range of benefits in terms of health and human rights. As this groundbreaking Report, highlights, however, there are also serious concerns about the unfolding market dynamics.

Download the briefing (PDF)

Federal lawyers are being asked to avoid prosecuting simple drug possession cases unless major public safety concerns are at play — a move that comes amid a push on the federal government to reconsider decriminalization. The directive, which was issued earlier this week, revises the Public Prosecution Service of Canada's (PPSC) approach to simple possession offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Director of Public Prosecutions Kathleen Roussel is now asking her team of lawyers to focus on seeking charges only in "the most serious cases" and to otherwise ask for alternative measures, such as restorative justice and Indigenous approaches to divert simple possession cases away from the criminal justice system.

The legalization of cannabis in Canada was supposed to be a catalyst — the most powerful one yet, investors and analysts alike thought — that would launch companies in the young but potent industry to new heights. Instead, nearly one year later, it has been a nightmare. Since recreational cannabis became legal on Oct. 17, 2018, the shares of what were then the 10 largest Canadian cannabis producers by market capitalization have been bludgeoned, yielding an average negative return of more than 57 per cent for investors. (See also: Short sellers cash in on cannabis as investors get fed-up with money-losing companies)

Two years ago, Canadian cannabis companies were racing to scoop up international assets, from swaths of fertile land in southern Africa to cultivation licences in Jamaica and everything in between. Now, with fears of a cash crunch looming over the industry, some of the same producers who spent tens of millions to build an international presence have started dialling back, putting projects on hold or divesting of their foreign operations altogether. And it’s a trend that some pot analysts expect will only intensify over the next 12 months. “Licensed producers are now in a capital constrained environment and investors want to see profitability.” (See: ‘Building a new industry from scratch is hard’: Cannabis firms brace for more spilled blood in 2020)

The one thing Bay Street’s top cannabis bankers are all in agreement about is how difficult it has become for the pot sector to raise money over the past six months, be it through debt or equity. That trend might continue for the next little while, as investors retreat to safer havens, and wait for companies to rejig their management teams, repair their balance sheets and generate profits — something that has been sorely lacking in the volatile growth industry. According to Financial Post Data, the number of cannabis deals on Bay Street plunged 33 per cent in 2019, versus a year ago. Of the eight biggest debt and equity raises in 2019, seven took place in the first half of the year. Investment firms raised a total of $3.6 billion for the cannabis sector in 2019, 45 per cent less than a year prior.