Medical Marijuana
The inside of the Columbia Care medical marijuana dispensary is seen in New York January 7, 2016. New York's first medical marijuana dispensaries are opening their doors on Thursday, as the state launches one of the most conservative programs of its kind in the United States. Reuters/Shannon Stapleton

If a chief executive of a pot private equity firm is to be believed, legalising cannabis in Mexico can create a legal recreational and medical cannabis market that can bring in $2.45 billion dollars a year. Medical marijuana growers are increasingly turning to Mexico for business opportunities after a Supreme Court decision in November last year opened the door to legalising marijuana in Mexico. The ruling party even presented a bill to regulate medical cannabis.

Even though Mexico has a reputation for being a hub for ruthless and illegal drug cartels and has a history of drug violence, companies cashing in on legal marijuana are still hopeful that the situation will change once the drug is legalised. Pot private equity firms and medical marijuana growers, all look at Mexico as a big business opportunity.

Daniel Sparks, head of government affairs at BioTrackTHC, which is a US-based provider of marijuana supply-chain software, is of the opinion that just like US, Mexico bootleggers and mafia lords will give up on illicit moonshine once prohibition ends.

The drug gangs will have little interest in legal marijuana if the market appoints reputed tech and pharmaceutical firms. He added that even if there is opposition from the cartels, medical and recreational marijuana programs are already depleting the drug lords’ profit margins.

“It shows North America … is moving in the same direction, and that’s more than just symbolic: it’s indicative of what will happen at a global scale. Mexico is an interesting investment opportunity,” said Brendan Kennedy of firm Privateer Holdings.

The support for medical marijuana legalisation has grown and lawmakers are of the opinion that the bill passed by President Enrique Peña Nieto’s Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) is likely to pass in some form, reports The Guardian.

Mexico’s population of 120 million people provides a considerable market for cannabis and marijuana investors.

However, back Down Under, 750 cannabis plants have been seized on Wednesday in a Derrimut warehouse. The marijuana plants were being grown in a hydroponic set up and worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Westpark Industrial Centre set up had 18 grow rooms with cannabis plants of various shapes and sizes. The police will be dismantling the setup and speaking to neighbouring businesses. No one has been arrested yet, reports Herald Sun.

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