Marijuana Industry Added Over $8 Billion to Canada's GDP
The industry grew 185% in the first 10 months since recreational marijuana was legalized
The BNN Bloomberg portal reported that Canada's marijuana sector contributed $8.26 billion to the country's gross domestic product as of July, representing a steady increase from $7.02 billion in October 2018, when recreational cannabis was legalized.
According to new data published by Statistics Canada, StatsCan numbers also show that Canada's legal cannabis industry grew 185% in the first 10 months since recreational marijuana was legalized. At the same time, black market cannabis production dropped by 21%, according to StatsCan estimates.
While American authorities debate how to handle the current health crisis linked to vaping, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned about this outcome when they banned flavored e-cigarette fluids.
The lack of a flavor ban is attributed to a sharp increase in youth vaping, with around 4.9 million high school and middle school students using tobacco products as of 2018, up from 3.6 million the previous year.
Source: BNN Bloomberg