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IN PHOTO: Director of Quality Assurance Thomas Shipley inspects drying marijuana plants before they are processed for shipping at Tweed Marijuana Inc in Smith's Falls, Ontario, April 22, 2014. By unlocking the once-obscure medical marijuana market, Canada has created a fast-growing, profitable and federally regulated industry with a distinct appeal to the more daring global investor. About a dozen producers of the drug will find themselves in the spotlight this year as they consider going public or prepare to so through share sales or reverse takeovers to capitalize on recent regulatory changes, investment bankers said. Tweed Marijuana Inc, which converted an old chocolate factory into a marijuana farm, led the pack by becoming the first publicly held Canadian company in the sector. Picture taken April 22, 2014. REUTERS/Blair Gable

A group of medical marijuana growers, authorised by the Health Canada, said that the proposed rules will regulate the illegal retail marijuana business, which is becoming increasingly popular in the City of Vancouver.

The authorities in Vancouver said recently that it would start regulating the 80 retailers selling marijuana, which has mushroomed as a result of the federal government's legal loopholes in the system.

In a statement issued in the city suggested that the city has witnessed a rapid growth of 100 percent each year in businesses related to marijuana. The growth rate has grown from 60 to 80 percent in the last four months alone.

In a letter to the city Mayor, Federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose wrote, "Storefronts and dispensaries do not operate within a 'grey zone,' and the law is clear; they are illegal.” Meanwhile, some licensed marijuana growers agree that there is no grey area, considering it is not possible for the pot dispensaries to received weed through the legal means. Important to mention that the vice-president of Tweed, one of the first companies in the country to acquire a licence to produce medical marijuana, asked where these dispensaries receive their products from.

He also said the patients do not need any interventions from middlemen considering the licensed weed growers can send cannabis directly to those who need it.

The Glitch In The System

Well, the other side of the story is from the owner of one of Vancouver’s oldest dispensaries, she said, the Vancouver Dispensary Society sometimes obtain marijuana from legally licensed "mom and pop growers."

"Some people are licensed by Health Canada to grow it, and sometimes even if they grow the right plant they end up with more than they need," she added.

"Health Canada says they should dispose it, and some dispose of it by selling it to us — not quite what they meant — but that doesn't hurt anybody.”

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