Lobby group for licensed medical pot producers gets new name: Cannabis Canada

OTTAWA – In a sign of the times, the country’s licensed medical marijuana producers have renamed their trade group Cannabis Canada.

The association says the scope of its work is evolving along with a changing environment — which includes the Trudeau Liberal government’s promise to legalize and regulate the sale of non-medical marijuana.

The Harper Conservatives had already relaxed rules governing the production, sale and distribution of marijuana for medical purposes — providing a legal framework for a new industry producing pot and derived products.

Cannabis Canada will include licensed producers that have been represented by the Canadian Medical Cannabis Industry Association but will also accept applications from other types of stakeholder.

Its stated mission is to support the development of a regulated pot industry and promote industry standards.

Canada’s federal government says it will introduce new legislation in the spring of 2017.