Calls For Relaxed Cannabis Packaging Regulations

A Wall Street analyst hopes to see a more “happy medium” when it comes to packaging regulations for cannabis in Canada.

Vivien Azer with U.S. company Cowen was part of a panel at the World Cannabis Congress in Saint John on Monday.

Azer said branding opportunities for cannabis are fairly limited in Canada compared to our counterparts in the United States.

“I think it is tough to start creating that price strata when you have such a restricted packaging and marketing framework to work with,” said Azer.

Azer said cannabis packaging regulations in the U.S. are a lot less restrictive — similar to those for alcohol. She believes slightly relaxed packaging regulations for cannabis would be good for the entire industry.

"Learning how to borrow best practices from other industries to scale your business will be key," said Dr. @MichaelNashat of @terrascendcorp during a panel discussion titled "New Market Opportunities Cannabis Is Disrupting". #CivilizedWCC pic.twitter.com/3gWcddmQK2

— World Cannabis Congress (@CivilizedWCC) June 17, 2019

Julian Burzynski, Canadian president of Breakthru Beverage Group, agreed the regulations are quite stringent, but believes things will move in a different direction over time if industry comes together with consistent messaging.

Burzynski also noted there is still a lot of stigma around cannabis which will take “years, not months” to reduce.

“If you look at the alcohol business after prohibition [in the United States], it is similar to where we’re at now — it just happened years and years ago,” said Burzynski.

“It took many, many years to get the stigma out of alcohol, that you weren’t gonna go to hell and you’re demonized. These are the same things that we’re fighting here with cannabis.”

Azer said she believes there is the potential for cannabis destigmatization to happen faster than with alcohol.