This is exactly the kind of progress in Canada that’s been seen as a foregone conclusion by most industry watchers for decades. Despite the fact that recreational pot remains for the time being illegal in Canada, the country has perhaps the most robust and advanced medical cannabis industry in the world. The federal health authority currently regulates medical marijuana production space totalling over a million square feet, spaced out across 30 gigantic industrial-scale facilities. Production happens at such a rate that reports suggest there are already more than seven tonnes of marijuana stockpiled in reserve – all ready and waiting to be released nationwide when the new federal law comes into effect.

Coupled with the country’s liberal and proactive attitudes to cannabis, the progress Canada has already made puts it in the kind of position where building a world-leading marijuana industry infrastructure is pretty much set in stone. It will happen, and soon. It will become the home of the world’s biggest cannabis brands, the home of marijuana innovation and the place that ends up claiming the most intellectual property on Earth when it comes to marijuana products and hardware.

Already, marijuana cultivation and research in Canada takes place on an industrial scale – the United States coming across as decades behind in this department alone.