Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Toronto is getting the first legal cannabis consumption patio

While both federal and provincial governments haven’t quite worked out how to legalize brick-and-mortor weed consumption lounges yet, Ontario is certainly testing the market.
The Toronto Craft Beer Festival announced today (March 12) it plans to include a legal cannabis-friendly zone at its upcoming event at Ontario Place in June.
The annual expo highlights the best of Ontario’s craft brew offerings and sees over 10,000 attendees, all sipping on homegrown suds — no Big Beer allowed. This year, if guests find they’ve shotgunned a few too many salted caramel stouts or rhubarb saisons they can kick back with a come-down joint, or forgo the taps all together, on the aptly named “potio”.
Abi Roach@abiroach
The Hotbox POTio is coming to an event near you …
First stop The Toronto Craft Beer Fest🔥
Cannabis Smoking Lounge Takeover Happens June 21st-23rd at Ontario…
newswire.ca
35 people are talking about this
The provincially-backed event will make history as the first legal age-gated consumption lounge open to the Canadian public. The sesh section will be designed by Detonate, a cannabis branding agency, and hosted by Abi Roach — founder of the Kensington Market weed hub, the HotBox Cafe.
“We want to offer people a place to come down from the beer. You don’t have to consume cannabis to experience our creative, chill, and vibrant potio,” says Roach in a release.
The long-time pot advocate and entrepreneur will hand-pick her customer service team, along with a few experienced sales representatives. “Potio” staff are tasked with “ensuring attendees are educated on the various ways to safely consume cannabis” and spotting signs of over-consumption. Roach has over two decades of experience hosting weed events across the Greater Toronto Area, including running one of the country’s most popular smoke spots.
“What makes this one really special — other than our partners — is that it’s now on a provincial level, meaning the government is finally ready to listen to what Canadians actually want,” she says.
Organizers bill the alcohol- and tobacco-free patio as “a comfortable break from the beer and noise during the festival”. To reduce the risk of cross-fading — a term used to describe nausea, dizziness, and disorientation that can come with mixing excessive amounts of alcohol and cannabis at the same time — Roach and her team will be on deck to answer questions and guide the experience.
While research is limited primarily to anecdotal evidence, animal studies show cannabis, specifically the compound cannabidiol (CBD), can help mitigate the risk of liver disease, lower blood pressure, and reduce the severity of neurodegeneration, behavioural, and cognitive impairments — all side effects associated with excessive drinking.
Studies from Free Radical Biology & Medicine also show CBD acts as an antioxidant, limiting ethanol-induced damage to organ tissue, even prompting cell regeneration in some cases. Even HelloMD cites CBD oil as a holistic “hangover elixir” for its nausea- and headache-busting properties.
Some experts do warn, however, that cannabis can inhibit nausea and vomiting, the body’s natural defence against alcohol poisoning.
While there are currently no legal public cannabis lounges in Ontario or B.C., this move shows a promising step in the right direction. The plant was federally legalized for recreational use in October of last year and most provinces are still strugging to set-up basic retail distribution systems.
“What better way to optimize on a sensory experience than by adding some cannabis to the mix, and who better to help us execute than Abi and the HotBox team?” adds Tony Millar, founder of Toronto’s Craft Beer Festival in the release.
“Cannabis is finally legal across Canada and we couldn’t be prouder to celebrate it together.”
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Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Lender to Fund Container Pot Shops on Canadian Indigenous Lands

A Canadian lender to indigenous people is planning to fund cannabis stores on First Nations lands where it says communities haven’t reaped the economic benefit from the drug’s legalization.
Bridging Finance Inc. is starting with a store on the Peguis First Nation in Manitoba, according to chief executive officer David Sharpe. His firm is working with Popcann, which fashions pot stores from old shipping containers, and the pair are in talks to replicate the model in indigenous communities in North America.
“For me it’s a fairness issue. We’re lobbying the Ontario government to come up with more licenses,” said Sharpe, a member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte. “We often say the cannabis economy is the new buffalo, so we don’t want to miss the boat.
Canada became the second country to legalize recreational marijuana in October, igniting a race for licenses, financing and expanded production. In Ontario, where Sharpe is based, some indigenous people have expressed frustration at the provincial government’s plan to issue a maximum of eight licenses for cannabis stores on reserves on a first-come, first-serve basis. There are over 200 reserves in the province.
Private Debt
Bridging Finance is funding the 1,900 square foot Manitoba project using a private debt fund set up in April to finance indigenous economic development. It plans to expand the fund to C$500 million ($378 million).
It will charge 1% per month on the loans for the Popcann projects in indigenous communities, according to Sharpe. The loans will be shorter term and flipped over to banks or other lenders once the projects are generating revenue, he said.
Bridging Finance and Popcann are in talks with several other First Nations in Canada and tribes in the U.S. to bring a similar model to their communities. Many First Nations, including Sharpe’s community of Tyendinaga, have dozens of unregulated pot stores but Bridging Finance will only fund legal outlets, he said.
Casinos, Fisheries
Bridging Finance currently has C$1.6 billion in assets under management and its other direct lending funds invest in collateral-based bridging loans, inventory and accounts-receivables financing. Returns from the funds hover around 8.5%, according to Sharpe. The firm has already lent around C$320 million to finance casinos, renewable energy, housing, grocery stores and fisheries in indigenous communities. The company has never suffered a default or had to work out a loan in this area before, according to Sharpe.






The interior of a Popcann pre-fabricated cannabis store.
For Popcann’s part, the company offers about eight different cannabis store layouts and can have the simplest versions up and running in 60 days, according to Popcann Chief Executive Officer Jake Neiman. He envisions having 10 Popcann stores open by the end of 2019 and 30 to 50 by the end of 2020. It will use Bridging Finance loans from around C$250,000 to C$500,000 depending on the size of the structure.
“The intent is to put up a loan to get a Popcann fully operational and recoup that loan after it’s generating income for that community,” Neiman said. “It’s kind of a no-risk, all-upside situation.”
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