In Today’s Issue:

• → European Cannabis.
• → Canadian Job Losses.
• → From Cannabis To Nicotine.

Cannabis In Europe

A number of European nations are moving to legalize adult-use cannabis…

The big news this week is that Germany’s new government is on track to legalize cannabis for adult-use purposes.

In today’s edition of The Green Paper, we will be breaking down the list of European nations on track to legalize cannabis.

Germany: 83.24 million people

Last Friday we reported that the incoming German government was considering legalizing cannabis.

Yesterday, multiple German media companies reported that the new three-party government has agreed to legalize cannabis for adult-use purposes.

The center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens, and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) are the three parties pushing this policy change, and they are expected to take office in early December.

Additionally, the new government plans to tighten marketing regulations for drugs such as nicotine& alcohol, while providing Germans with the resources they need to test drugs for dangerous contaminants.

Italy: 60.3 million people

In January 2013 Italy legalized cannabis for medical purposes, however, the Mediterranean nation is now on track to legalize adult-use cannabis.

In September, activists gathered the required 500,000 signatures within 7 days which set up a referendum to legalize cannabis for adult-use purposes that will take place in early 2022.

Malta: 0.465 million people

Malta legalized cannabis for medical purposes in 2018, however, in October 2021, they announced their plans to decriminalize adult-use cannabis.

The proposed model won’t result in cannabis retail stores such as we have seen in the U.S & Canada, however, it would allow all adults in the region to carry up to 7 grams of cannabis and cultivate 4 cannabis plants per residence.

There’s no date set in stone for when this proposed policy will become law, however, this proposal is a clear sign of the progress being made in Malta.

Switzerland: 8.46 million people

The Swiss government is currently in the process of creating legislation to legalize cannabis for adult-use purposes.

In January of this year, the Solomon Institute of Switzerland conducted a federally funded survey to gauge the support for legalizing cannabis.

The results? About 70% of the respondents said it’s important to reform the cannabis laws in Switzerland citing limiting the black market and improving consumer safety as important reasons for legalization.

Luxembourg: 0.63 million people

In October, Luxembourg’s government proposed decriminalizing cannabis.

This legislation would allow all adults to cultivate 4 cannabis plants per household for personal use, and the Luxembourg parliament is expected to vote on the proposal in early 2022.

Our Take

While it is exciting to see Germany moving to legalize cannabis, it’s even more exciting to see the growing list of European nations that are changing their laws to allow adults to purchase, cultivate & consume cannabis.

Canadian Cannabis Layoffs

Breaking down the number of job losses in the Canadian cannabis industry…

Let’s talk about a recent report from Matt Lamers, and what it means for the Canadian cannabis industry.

The numbers…

The top 50 Canadian cannabis companies have let go 5997 people, while they only hired 1,697 people since the start of 2020 — a net loss of 4,300 people.

In total these job losses accounted for a 30% reduction in the number of people employed by the top 50 cannabis companies in Canada.

Canopy Growth, Aurora Cannabis, Sundial Growers & Tilray accounted for almost three-quarters of the total jobs lost.

Why now?

Cannabis sales continue to reach record highs in Canada, however, despite this growth, many companies are still producing far too much cannabis.

As part of the process of Canadian cannabis producers acknowledging that they are producing too much cannabis, companies are downsizing.

During this same time, cannabis retailer High Tide has hired 342 new staff members in response to the shortage of cannabis retail stores in Canada.

Our Take 

People losing their jobs as a consequence of companies failing to hit their goals is never a good thing, however, the decision to downsize is a necessary move such that can succeed long term.

From Cannabis To Nicotine Products

The controversial cannabis brand Ignite is leaving the cannabis industry…

With cannabis sales on track to reach record highs in 2021, the cannabis industry continues to attract more & more celebrities.

While this publicity is great for the cannabis industry as a whole, not every celebrity comes to cannabis with the same intentions.

Building ignite…

Founded in 2017 by social media influencer Dan Bilzerian, Ignites mission was to “be a catalyst of change in the cannabis industry, and gain legitimacy as the first premium global cannabis brand.”

In the four years since Ignite has been the center of controversy in cannabis due to its unorthodox approach to marketing products & its desire to host very expensive parties using investors’ dollars.

• Ignite lost $50 million USD in 2019.
• Ignite lost $19.7 million USD in 2020.

Now, weeks after Ignite announced they were leaving the Canadian cannabis industry Dan Bilzerian has announced their plans to move away from cannabis completely in favor of building a billion-dollar nicotine company.

Clear contradictions…

When Ignite announced its plans to wind down its involvement in the Canadian cannabis industry they emphasized that the current regulations in Canada were the brands’ primary motive to exit this market.

Now, just weeks later Bilzerian has changed this reasoning — this time focusing on the illicit market as the reason why the company failed in Canada.

Bilzerian also took the opportunity to share his motive to get into the cannabis industry — a motive that sounds awfully different from their initial motive of being a “catalyst of change in the cannabis industry.”

“Initially, I wanted to do a dispensary.

I wanted to have hot girls work at the dispensary. I wanted it to be a place, like a destination.”

Up in smoke…

While the company’s plans to build “the first premium global cannabis brand” have gone up in smoke — a pivot to nicotine products is already in the works.

Per Bilzerian, over 80% of his social media followers live in regions where cannabis remains illegal and by focusing on vape products he will be able to take full advantage of his 32+ million followers.

With this change, Bilzerian’s new goal is to build a multi-billion dollar vape company and to sell it to an established tobacco company.

“$2 billion would be nice. Then I’d get over a billion.

That was one of the milestones that I had.” — Bilzerian said.

Our Take

We will continue to see more & more celebrities join the cannabis industry, however, as we have seen with Ignite — having a large number of followers online by no means guarantees success.