Leaf Guru Guides Canadians into the New Era of Legal Cannabis

(Editors Note: The story is contributed content from LeafGuru)

With national legalization set for October 17, many Canadians will admit they haven’t felt overly informed on how the legal industry unfolds in their province.

Sales, marketing, industry participation, cultivation regulations, and who can do what in which province makes Canadian cannabis seem complicated, and not something Canadian’s cannabis users have completely warmed to.

“I really don’t know much about the new legal cannabis retail stores,” says Kitchener, Ontario resident Stacey when asked whether she’ll access one of the new Ontario Cannabis Stores near her, “I understand the privilege of legal cannabis, but I don’t feel there’s been enough communication from the governments about what will be available to us.” For many, the recent amendments to Bill-C45 that were recently proposed provided no more clarity than before.

Canadians deserve to be more informed about legal cannabis, and a new information hub is stepping in to connect Canadians to the legal recreational cannabis experience.

Time to Bridge the Knowledge Gap

A team of web developers in Alberta have been quietly working towards building the central and premier hub for cannabis information for Canada, across all provinces and territories, from sea-to-sea.

Leaf Guru had their soft launch on earlier this month, presenting Canadians a resource to help them get up to speed on the ins-and-outs of the cannabis plant, and what legal cannabis means for the country.

“The months leading up to the provincial implementation of legal cannabis provide an opportunity for all Canadians to increase their literacy on the cannabis plant,” said CEO and Founder of Leaf Guru, Cam Edwards, “Leaf Guru seeks to go back to the basics of cannabis and rebuild what we know about the plant in the legal context in Canada.”

The site shows all Canadians where you can get legal cannabis, what products are available, and unites all developments in Canada’s provinces and territories into one resource.

Supporting the Shift from Grey Markets to Legal Markets

Canada has had a legal cannabis market since 2001 when Canadians were able to access a medical cannabis prescription through one of Health Canada’s 101 Licenced Producers (LPs). As of December 2017, 269,502 Canadians accessed medical cannabis through physician’s prescriptions and LPs.

Despite the medical cannabis user numbers being relatively low considering Canada’s over 36 million population, recreationally, millions of Canadians have been accessing and using cannabis for decades.

According to Statistics Canada, $5.7 billion dollars was spent in 2017 by 4.9 million cannabis-consuming Canadians in Canada; which includes both medicinal and recreational cannabis. Not surprisingly, 90% of money spent on cannabis by Canadians is for non-medicinal (or recreational) purposes.

“On October 17, cannabis will finally be legal for Canadians to purchase, possess, and cultivate for personal use,” says Edwards, “It’s important for all Canadians, no matter where they live in the country, to know their legal rights and privileges in this new age of legal cannabis,” he added.

A specific feature of Leaf Guru, and its decision to launch so close to the date of legal cannabis is to ensure that it is a legal-market only resource. The team watched what happened to similar platforms in the U.S. unfold when they were still promoting grey and black-market participation on their platforms.

“All cannabis retail locations and Licenced Producers listed on our site are licensed by either their local municipality or the federal government to operate legally. We will not promote any stores or operations that are not licensed and are deemed illegal,” said Edwards about this approach, “We want to be a place where folks interested in knowing about the upcoming cannabis industry in Canada can go and feel comfortable in knowing that what they are reading is accurate, true, and created within the context of legal cannabis only.”

Canada’s One Stop Cannabis Information Shop

Leaf Guru addresses almost every aspect of legal cannabis in Canada that many are unclear on with the provincial approach to national legalization.

The site fills Canadians in on cannabis’ past in Canada, and the path to legalization. It brings the public accessible information about the societal, health, and economic perspectives of cannabis as it takes its place as a legal activity.

The thoughtfully curated content deconstructs the cannabis plant back to basics to help Canadians understand exactly what cannabis is rather than what the age of prohibition has led them to believe it to be.

A source for new users and cannabis connoisseurs alike, Leaf Guru is a one-stop shop for everything Canadian cannabis. Seeking to unite provinces and territories under our new era of legal cannabis, Leaf Guru promotes the duty to respect the confines of the law, while celebrating the large role that cannabis has always played in Canada’s culture.

Anne-Marie Fischer

Anne-Marie Fischer is a cannabis educator and writer, engaged with cannabis brands and organizations across the globe. After serving the United States and global cannabis industries, she has recently returned home to Canada to serve the legal cannabis industry with education and engaging content.


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