I’ve been fighting for medical cannabis patients for 25 years.

As COVID-19 brings economic growth to a standstill, some in the U.S. believe there’s a way out.

“When we all start to be able to lift our heads from this COVID experience, we are going to be faced with a scenario where a lot of jobs have gone away,” Charlie Bachtell, CEO of U.S.-based cannabis company Cresco Labs, tells CNBC. “How are we going to bring that back? I think cannabis has to be part of that discussion,” he says.

A scope into Canada’s response to the Cannabis industry during Covid-19 by province reveals the industry’s resilience in the face of these trying times.

As a

Martin Cauchon stood in the House of Commons and took a breath. It was the spring of 2003 and as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Cauchon was about to introduce Bill C-38, a piece of legislation that would decriminalize the possession of marijuana. 

Canadian marijuana companies were finally confirmed as eligible for financial assistance during the coronavirus crisis after initial confusion in the industry.

Last month, the Export Development Canada (EDC) agency and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) were granted CAD$10 billion to distribute in the form of loans to small businesses as part of the Canadian government’s emergency stimulus package.

However, the CEO of cannabis producer Tantalus Labs informed people via Twitter that he was denied help as the federal development bank is “not authorized to do business” with marijuana companies.

As the coronavirus spread across the country in March, and stay-at-home orders began to go into effect, every state with a regulated cannabis system allowed weed sales to continue in some form, deeming medical-marijuana businesses

During the COVID-19 pandemic Colorado has temporarily made the online sale of recreational marijuana legal, “fulfilling one of the pot industry’s biggest wishes and fueling its argument for more concessions that could be made permanent when the crisis eases”, reports the Associated Press.

“It’s one of several signs emerging from the virus outbreak of just how far ingrained marijuana has become in mainstream life in several states.” Dispensaries are being designated “critical businesses” and are allowed to operate through statewide stay-at-home orders. In addition, markets such as California, Washington state and Oregon are allowing curbside pickup during the crisis.

The Ontario government shouldn’t allow weed lounges to open because society needs more time to gauge the impact of the federal cannabis legalization, Ottawa’s public health unit says.

In a response to a provincial government request for comment on the potential to allow cannabis consumption establishments, medical officer of health Vera Etches wrote that “unintended consequences are not yet known” since legalization only started about a year and a half ago.

“A public health approach to regulating cannabis is needed to minimize the potential health and social harms,” Etches wrote in her response, which has been made public through the release of the health board’s agenda for its meeting next Monday.

Sales in P.E.I. Cannabis have fallen close to 70 per cent since retail outlets were closed in order to help stop the spread of COVID-19. 

Cannabis retail stores on the Island were closed alongside liquor stores on March 19. While some liquor stores on the Island have reopened, the cannabis stores remain closed, although sales can still be made online. 

"Right now we're probably doing approximately 30 to 35 per cent of our normal business that we would do during this time of year," said Zach Currie, director of operations with the P.E.I. Cannabis Management Corporation. 

P.E.I. Cannabis has seen a spike in its online orders, said Currie, and that's where staff have been focusing most of their attention.