A group convened by the federal government to study the legislation that made cannabis legal is recommending the country review one of the industry's biggest gripes: excise taxes charged to pot producers.
Many of the industry's biggest players, including Canopy Growth Corp., Aurora Cannabis Inc. and Tilray Brands Inc., have spent the last five years laying off workers, closing facilities and grappling with balance sheets that reflect a challenging market and a slow crawl toward profitability. He named as priorities a review of the excise tax and another to study whether it should be applied to medical products.
It also advocated for Health Canada to develop a"standard dose," which companies could use to help convey the amount of a product that should be consumed at one time. The panel said the industry felt raising the limit would help it squeeze out illicit sellers with products containing higher THC amounts and prices for edibles that can be up to 90 per cent lower than legal counterparts.