We’re missing out on the ‘Green Rush’

They Call it the Green Rush. The North American cannabis market is booming thanks to the legalisation of weed in Canada and a few states in America. Is our worldwide famous cannabis country Holland missing out on this billion-business?

Medicinal Weed has been legal in Canada for a while now, but since the 17th of october, recreational cannabis is legal as well. Each state can decide for themselves how to sell the ‘green gold’. In Alberta for example, entrepeneurs can open up their own shop where in Quebec the state is opening up their own pharmacies.

Of course all this weed has to be grown somewhere and that gives life to a whole new legal business sector. This year in Canada it’s grossed by Bloomberg at 80 Billion Canadian Dollar. (about 54 billion Euro)

The financial size of the sector is showing how professional it’s become. We’re no longer talking about small unprofessional coffeeshops and small illegal weed growers. The Canadian Weed Sector is made out of stock market listed billion dollar companies. The biggest company, Canopy, has a market value of 14,38 billion Canadian dollar.

Canada is not the only country that’s taking big steps forward in to the cannabis market. In the American States of California, Colorado and Maine it’s already possible to legally grow weed when you’re holding a permit. And closer to home; In Denmark they’re preparing the first Cannabis-IPO in Europe.

It’s no wonder many Dutch Entrepeneurs are looking at these developments with pain in their hearts. Holland used to be the weed-capitol of the world, but other countries are ahead at the moment.

“We’re clearly missing out at the moment” says Dutch businessman Kees Valstar. Together with two partners they’re fighting for regulation with their initiative called NatureCanDo. When they started out, they were only aiming at medicinal cannabis, but now they’re interested in recreational cannabis as well. “To regulate is to regulate”

“If Europe is able to regulate Cannabis like north America, the market could be just as big. The expertise here in Holland doesn’t stop at our coffeeshops.” says Valstar. “We’re also worldwide known for our agricultural knowledge. We’re very good at growing, developing and finishing seeds. We’re still world leaders in agricultural knowledge, so we could be of mayor importance to Europe’s own Green Rush. This market is made for us!”

Now the government is researching a ‘legalized weed growing experiment’, but they’re mostly looking at the results on health and criminality. What they won’t be checking is the financial impact on our national product. How much money can there be made and how much taxes will be paid? Up ’till now it was too hard to tell. After all, growing weed is illegal and hidden. It just can not be measured. In 2016 Bureau Intraval estimated the Dutch Coffeeshop annually sold about 1 billion worth of cannabis. That’s if we’re talking about the legal shops. Where they obtain their cannabis, nobody knows…

The CBS estimates  ‘The Illegal Money Stream’ every 5 years. The last time was in 2015: Total 4,8 Billion of which Cannabis is the main part of 2,9 Billion. Heroin and Cocain (2nd place) is rated at about 460 millions.

These are not numbers you can compare to the net worth of a listed legal weed producer in Canada. It’s total hocus pocus how these figures are being rated. There’s no strong argument for their reliability. The CBS relies on digits from the justice department. Based on the number of caught growers and the thought chance of being caught, the CBS tries to measure the size of the illegal Weed Biz. In other words; The CBS is mostly guessing, but we do know the worth is in the Billions.

It’s clear there’s an enormous amount of expertise in Holland that’s utterly useful in the cannabis sector. For example, many greenhouse companies are working and delivering their systems in North America at the moment. A whole lot of the technical instrument that are being used there are Dutch made. Nicole Maalsté states “it’s a crying shame we’re giving away all our knowledge for nothing.”

An example is the family company Havecon. The company used to build greenhouses for tomatoes and peppers but is now also building for the Canadian Cannabis farms. This week it opened up a new office in Canada. “From our new office in Niagara-on-the-lake we’re able to help American and Canadian companies grow there businesses.”

And there are more Dutch companies, for example KUBO, a greenhouse builder in Canada. And Verkade, a company specialized in climate controle.

Nicole Maalsté also says there are also many Dutch Weed Growers that came over to participate in the Green Rush. Many of them have had their origin in the illegal Dutch market, but know they are treated like honest businessmen. And they sure are needed. Their knowledge of the cannabis plant speeded up the growth and development of this market. For the Dutch growers truly a dream come through.

The Dutch Experiment of about 6 years is taking Nicole Maalsté way too long. According to her, time is of the essence. “With this experiment we’re stopping the time and by the time it’s starting again, the market will be well devided. The people holding the cards now will be out of sight by the time Holland starts up this Green Biz.”

According to Dutch Entrepeneur Kees Valstar: “It’s not only a losing race in growing weed, we’re also losing the battle for research-levels, patenting and branding. And that’s a crying shame, because this Weed Biz is going to be massive.”

This Article is based upon a nu.nl article

All Photo’s are ours and free to use and share

 

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