The hemp industry prides itself on being more sustainable, but behind that image there’s still waste and room for improvement.

In theory, farming hemp should not be considered damaging to the earth at all. In fact, hemp can be regenerative to the soil on which it’s farmed.

Yet due to the dramatic consumer demand that companies are rushing to meet, many companies (and thus farmers) are now focused on making as much hemp as possible leaving little to no attention on its quality or the soil on which it was grown on. Our legislation is to blame as well: the law which legalized hemp can lead to the forced excessive destruction of perfectly healthy hemp plants. 

More and more countries decide to legalize cannabis and give entrepreneurs a chance to make money and keep the economy. 

Since the beginning of the year, marijuana companies have seen dramatic declines due to concerns regarding oversupply in Canada and the uncertainty of legalization in the U.S. Year to date as of June 28, the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (NYSEMKT:MJ), an exchange-traded fund tracking the performance of pot stocks, has declined by more than 25%. During the same period, the S&P 500 index fell by less than 7%.

Canadians are clearly in love with cannabis, but not all provinces were created equal when it comes to permitting pot. While the historic Cannabis Act applies to all provinces, the rules around distribution and consumption fall to the provinces — and municipalities have some say on it, too.

That’s why for Canada Day, The GrowthOp takes a look at the growing industry from coast-to-coast — crunching the data on price, consumption habits, number of stores, public consumption options and the ability to grow at home — to find out which provinces are rolling out the red carpet for weed and which are still warming up to the country’s second favourite leaf.

Here are our findings.

The legal cannabis market is growing exponentially every single year.  Experts estimate that the industry will be worth more than $73.6 billion by 2027. Despite its popularity, this swiftly growing sector is missing out on one of its biggest potential markets — e-commerce. Can you sell cannabis online?

It's been almost two years since Canada legalized cannabis and pot producers have spent millions of dollars marketing their wares in the hope that consumers would know their Tweeds from their Trailblazers. 

Most of that money may have been completely wasted, according to a new survey that looks at how well Canadians can identify some of the brands available at legal pot shops across the country. 

The survey, published by Brightfield Group, polled 3,000 Canadians in the first quarter of the year. It found that brand awareness remains low, which is confusing consumers and resulting in "decision fatigue." Roughly two out of every five respondents said they were aware of Canopy Growth Corp.'s Tweed brand, while 17 different brands had less than 20 per cent name awareness.

The legal cannabis market in Ontario is set to explode in the coming months, as the province takes a free-market approach to the fledgling industry.

Here in northern Ontario, Greater Sudbury has six stores in the application process or already operating, while Sault Ste. Marie has five and North Bay has seven.

With a population in North Bay of around 51,000, one cannabis store says they are ready for the newcomers.

"Well you know we do welcome the competition," said Noreen Nichol, whose family owns and operates Kana Leaf 2020 in North Bay. "But I do have to say I am surprised due to the population size."

Will Next Month Produce Gains For These Marijuana Stocks

It’s been a rough road for some of the OG’s of the cannabis industry. Today, Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB) said its Co-Founder Terry Booth had retired from his role as Director of the Company, effective June 26, 2020. Mr. Booth was the Chief Executive Officer of Aurora from December 2014 through February 2020 and served on Aurora’s Board of Directors since December 2014.

A B.C. First Nation located in a semi-remote area on the Fraser River southwest of Williams Lake is exploring potential operations within the cannabis industry.

Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation (Canoe Creek/Dog Creek) Kukpi7 (Chief) Patrick Harry said the nation (SXFN) has signed a letter of intent with a B.C. First Nations company to explore cannabis production that would provide economic and medicinal benefits for his community.

“We still have some work to do but our nation is interested and I would say as a leader in my community I think I have a responsibility to explore the opportunity within the cannabis sector as we see the numbers across Canada are favourable,” he said.