Health Canada and MMJ Requirements

MMJ requirements for the medical marijuana industry are incredibly complex and cumbersome as Health Canada takes a hard look at companies that are looking to win production licenses. Michael Mayes, CEO at consulting firm Quantum 9, appeared on BNN for an inside look at what potential producers must go through.

Here are a few points that Mayes discussed on the show:

• Quantum 9 works primarily in North America, but also France and Holland. We do permanent acquisition consulting primarily around quality assurance, security, keeping good manufacturing processes and SOP’s. We help create a path that guides venture capitalists and entrepreneurs looking to acquire licenses from Health Canada.
• Health Canada is doing their due diligence and it has caused a bit of a slowdown in the regulatory process. Rigorous analysis is being done on the quality assurance side of businesses. This is to ensure that the quality of medicine that patients will be receiving is top-notch.
• There is a requirement for facilities to have an industrial-sized bank vault and caging requirements for curing cannabis to deter theft into the black market.
• Canada’s MMPR program is unique in that it allows an e-commerce model. As a result, the world is looking to Canada as an innovator in the way the address and license producers, as well as the way they are disseminating product.
• The financial requirements for capital and pursuit capital are quite high. It doesn’t mean you necessarily have to build an entire facility prior to getting a license. But it will require tremendous capital.
• We do a tremendous amount of cultivation design. Typically, our cultivation staff goes through a locker room in which they’ll change out of their street clothes. They will then shower and dress in pocketless gowns. So before entering a propagation area, they’ve completely removed any impurities from the outside. There’s a lot of things in the facility that can be designed to prevent from pest and pathogens.
• As far as the potential for pharmaceutical companies to take over the industry, Mayes points out that capital is king in any industry. If a pharmaceutical company has those types of resources, there would be no barrier of entry.