Advertisement
Mind the Gap
Business
Peter Guy

Mind the Gap | Vancouver’s abandoned mansions helped spawn this mysterious frontier market

Hongkongers were early-stage enablers in the billion-dollar medical marijuana business

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
A medical marijuana dispensary in downtown Vancouver. Photo: Chris Oliver

The old hippie smelled so strongly of marijuana he could have been an air freshener in a glaucoma outpatient clinic.

“Is that marijuana?”

“No it’s medicinal marijuana.”

Advertisement

“Here’s the prescription. And I’m not going to tell you why because it’s between me and my doctor.”

Welcome to the legalised medical marijuana scene in California and Vancouver where Hong Kong money and expertise have played a pioneering role in developing technology that continues to revolutionise the industry.

Advertisement

The US$5.4 billion spent in the US on legal medical and recreational marijuana last year is about $500 million more than what was brought in during 2014, according to reports released by ArcView Market Research and New Frontier Data, two marijuana industry market research groups.

Marijuana products on display in a dispensary in downtown Vancouver. Photo: Chris Oliver
Marijuana products on display in a dispensary in downtown Vancouver. Photo: Chris Oliver
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x