Ontario Government Considers Cannabis Cafes: What Is The Impact Globally?

Toronto has led the discussion on a couple of cannabis topics of late. See financing of public pot companies for starters. But that is not all that is cooking in the woke Canadian kitchen of cannapreneurialism. 

So are, finally, ideas about public consumption, in both licensed establishments like cafes and lounges and public venues like festivals and concerts The news comes, literally, as a breath of fresh or ganja-scented fresh air in a debate that is getting decidedly stuck in a rut just about everywhere.

And if the winds of change can blow from Toronto, globally, like the pace of cannabis exports, so much the better. In Europe, home of the idea to begin with, there is already a receptive hum afoot, and not just in Amsterdam.

Cannabis 2.0 for 2020

Luxumbourg broke the ice with its determined pushing of the pace of a regulated recreational market in Europe, but Italy popped the cherry on home grow last fall, and that too is now in the room. 

No matter the conservative forces holding back full recreational, now, however, it is also clear to everyone in the room that this is an idea whose time is coming. Fast. Even if that takes another 24 months to pop.

Lifestyle firms with venture capital backing are setting up in Berlin, and of course, far beyond, in Bavaria too. In Frankfurt, home to international bankers and the European Central Bank, pot shops selling upscale CBD products are brazenly advertising on the sides of trams.

Europe has the cannabis bug, and things are ramping up.

It is Not Going To Happen Tomorrow, But It Has Been Afoot For Years

The International Cannabis Business Conference has been ahead of the wave in Europe since its inception in 2017 in Berlin. Today, with a network of conferences spread across the continent, from Barcelona to Bern, it is the annual, critical meeting point of those who are making headway in Europe.

The most important thing in 2020 is networking and establishing professional connections and ecosystems. The conversation is alive, and there is no turning back the clock.

But if the Canadian influence that is also part of the mix, and has been for many years, it may be that the winds blowing west from the Canadian Rockies will meet the home-brewing revolution afoot across the EU and create some increasingly intense thunderstorms in the name of full and final legalization, if not public consumption, in a regulated, safe market.

Stay tuned for future weather reports.

To get the inside track on an exploding scene, be sure to attend the International Cannabis Business Conference in Barcelona, Berlin and Bern this year.