Summary of #121 Pot flânage! (2022.10.05)

00:00:00 - 00:25:00

In the video, Luc Prévost talks about the potential for a future in which pharmacists may be running for office in Canada. He discusses how they are good campaigners and how Canada has ignored their plea for more safety in the past. The video ends with an update on the 121st episode of "Top pote question commentaire critique."

• 00:00:00 In this video, Luc Prévost, host of the French-language podcast "Topote," talks about the growth of the cannabis industry in Canada, focusing on the second quarter of 2022. Canadian consumers and Canadians have spent nearly two billion dollars in the past two years on cannabis purchases, an increase of 6% over the same period of the previous year. According to projections, the Canadian cannabis market will be worth over eight billion dollars by 2023, and sales of all illicit markets will decline. This is good news for the environment, as it will result in the production of tons of plastic packaging. However, Canada and Quebec are both silent on the issue of cannabis packaging, which raises questions about the country's commitment to protecting children's health. Tobacco companies are also trying to reinvent themselves in the cannabis industry, British and Merkin Tobacco among them. All of these companies are doing what the cannabis industry is trying to reinvent since legalization: create legal and illegal networks to distribute their products. I don't believe that tobacco companies are trying to save the cannabis industry; rather, they are trying to survive it. The cannabis industry must look to less regulated markets to keep its profits. This is evident in Asia, Africa, and Europe, where tobacco companies are investing.
• 00:05:00 The article discusses the decreasing profitability of Canadian cannabis companies, and how this has led to a decrease in cannabis sales in the first quarter of 2022, compared to the same quarter in 2021. The Canadian giant, or what's left of it, has explained that this was partly due to a decrease in sales of high-quality flowers on the Canadian recreational cannabis market due to deliberate commercial transition aimed at concentrating on higher quality products and a wider public audience. Also mentioned is the company's recently ended partnership with Canadian convenience store chain, Alimentation Couche-Tard. This is due to the fact that all issues concerning the brand, tweed, in Ontario are now handled by CannaCoaster, the company's subsidiary. Because we're still taking a stroll today, we'll go take a look in France. It's because the French are thinking hard about what our kids are up to, and this is the day of the Quebec election. The CAC (Quebec Association of Cannabis Stores) will be back for another four years with its anti-adult-aged-18-to-21-year-old policy that makes it mandatory for them to purchase cannabis on the black market. I'm not saying smoking a joint is good for your
• 00:10:00 The video discusses the potential for a future in which tourists are not allowed to purchase cannabis products in Amsterdam, as the city struggles with a rise in crime related to the drug. Two discussions about the issue are brought up, with one focusing on the criminalization of the drug and the other on the tourism industry. The video ends with a discussion of possible solutions, with one suggestion being to have the drug produced to pharmaceutical standards.
• 00:15:00 The fameuses Goodman Factory, which supposedly eliminates theoretically the risks of cross-contamination and labeling errors, is expected to eventually have to produce goods in compliance with GMP short-term. I do not believe that this will happen overnight, as a major scandal or death is needed to bring about such a change. It seems that consumers can be deceived for quite a long time in Canada, as long as one pays attention to repeated scandals in honey or fish, for example. However, cannabis will never have the benevolent eye of the legislative body, and that might be what saves consumers and some serious players in the industry. It's not a quiz, but is it reasonable to expect that the Canadian CBD industry will one day be forced to produce to GMP standards? Uruguay legalized cannabis last year, and we know little about the successes or failures of this legalization for the lack of an truly diverse offering on the market. It seems that the vast majority of consumers in Uruguay prefer to buy black market products over legal ones in Uruguay. Today, one can purchase cannabis at a pharmacy but also in a sort of social club of cannabis that offers more variety than a pharmacy. To become a member of one of these 249 clubs of cannabis consumers, it takes time, as the law limits
• 00:20:00 In a recent video about sleep, there is no direct connection between cannabis and sleep but I was surprised to learn in a recent research study that the chronic disruption of circadian rhythms has significantly increased cancer growth in lung models, identifying the genes involved. Researchers have found a mysterious link between our sleep habits and disease, which might allow us to develop more targeted cancer treatments and better monitor high-risk groups. Obviously, this reminds us that cannabis is an extraordinary sleep aid, and we also know that workers who suffer from disrupted sleep schedules are at an increased risk for workplace accidents. Recently, Monsieur Bertrand Bolduc, president of the Order of Pharmacists of Quebec, published an article in La Presse about the diversion of medical cannabis programs by organized crime. The reactions to his proposal were explosive, and I don't know if you remember the DPLQ's debacle of a proposal to protect Québécois patients with sent them to the SQDC. Unfortunately, SCUDC would have reacted in a radio show had I not listened to it. Other groups have taken up the baton to explain their position, including Mr. Daniel Renaud, a specialist in mafia and gang violence with the Journal La Presse. Mr. Renaud's article,
• 00:25:00 In this video, Philippe Mercure interviews a journalist about a possible future election in which pharmacists may be running. The journalist discusses how the pharmacists are good campaigners and how Canada has ignored their plea for more safety in the past. The video ends with an update on the 121st episode of "Top pote question commentaire critique."