2

In 2014, the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) was launched and with it, Organigram
was one of approximately twenty companies that were licensed and approved at that time for medical
cannabis production and sales.

Written by Jen Hocken

I
n August of 2016, that program was replaced by the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations, or ACMPR.
Under the ACMPR rules authorized by Health Canada, companies like Organigram are in a position to cultivate, process and
sell dried cannabis and oil-based products.
3
4
There are no legal cannabis dispensary facilities in Canada;
one hundred percent of the authorized providers in Canada
sell through mail order. Companies like Organigram receive a
medical document that is basically a prescription filled out by
a physician, and the patient is then able to order online or by
telephone. Currently, the only other legal access to medical
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marijuana in Canada is for patients to apply for permission
to grow their own product, and a limited number of people
choose this option.
Organigram was one of the first licensed companies and it
started out on English Dr. in Moncton, New Brunswick. The
original facility – at approximately 31,000 square feet – Is in the
midst of a fully funded expansion plan to bring the facility to
an overall footprint of over 250,000 square feet. The company
launched under private ownership, but two years ago it
became one of the first publicly traded companies in the space.
In the last couple years, as the company has grown rapidly since
going public, it put itself in a position to raise additional capital
through the Toronto Stock Exchange Venture (TSX-V), which is
where Organigram is listed. The business raised enough capital
to expand dramatically and add another 102 000 square foot
building to its location.
“To give you a sense of production levels,” explains Greg Engel,
the CEO of Organigram, “Today we can produce about five
thousand kilos, which is equal to five million grams, and by
this point next year we’ll be in the position to produce sixteen
thousand kilos a year and by the end of next year we’ll be able
to produce twenty six thousand kilos – so it’s pretty dramatic
growth.” The new facility was an investment of over thirty-five
million dollars. It is growing to meet the medical needs today
of the population as the medical market grows by ten percent
each month; the company is also expanding production in
anticipation of the adult recreational market in the future. “The
adult recreational market is predicted to be anywhere between
a five and ten billion dollar market in the next five to eight years,
depending on which forecast you look at,” says Greg.
 5

“Organigram’s focus on quality

combined with the low indoor
power costs in New Brunswick is
positioning the company to be a
real leader in the industry.”
6
VALRON
At this point, the federal government in Canada continues to
move toward the launch of a regulated and controlled adult
recreational program by the end of June 2018. Adults who
are eighteen or older will be able to legally buy and cultivate
small amounts of marijuana for personal use. At the same
time, selling it to a minor will become a new criminal offence.
What is still uncertain is the distribution process; there will be a
direct mail option where adult recreational users will be able to
purchase online with an age verification and proof of identifica-
tion to receive the product in the mail. Each province is respon-
sible for setting up the distribution and management within its
province. “The only provinces we have certainty on so far are
“New Brunswick is in a real leadership position; it sees
this as a growth industry from a job creation perspective.”
New Brunswick and Ontario,” explains Greg. “New Brunswick
is in a real leadership position; it sees this as a growth industry
from a job creation perspective. Today we employ over one
hundred and twenty staff here but we also have another sixty
to eighty tradespeople on site daily because of the construc-
tion we are doing, which will be the case for the next twelve to
eighteen months.”
As a company, Organigram appreciates the support it has
received from the city of Moncton and the province of
New Brunswick. It has access to approximately $990,000 of
employment assistance funding through Opportunities New
 7

“When it comes to engineering,

construction and production,
www.BioFloral.com
the company works with New
Brunswick-based companies as
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much as we can and we also like Co Co
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to support the other Maritime

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communities in Atlantic Canada.”
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Brunswick and it continues to receive local support from

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other elements of the provincial government, a key part of

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Organigram’s successful journey.
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On account of all the local support the company receives, it is
very focused on supporting local businesses in return as much 1-877-384-9376
as possible. When it comes to engineering, construction and

&
production, the company works with New Brunswick-based
companies often and especially likes to support the other
Maritime communities in Atlantic Canada. When the company
made the decision to purchase large-scale supercritical carbon
dioxide equipment, which is used to produce extraction
products, it purchased the equipment from a company based
in Prince Edward Island instead of the other options it was
considering. “They had the best equipment and we certainly
WE
made the decision based on that, but supporting a company in CHOOSE
Atlantic Canada was also a big plus for us,” says Greg.
NATURE
Indoor production and greenhouse production are the only
two ways to grow marijuana authorized by Health Canada.
Organigram stands out in Atlantic Canada because of its indoor
production. There is a high cost to being an indoor producer
due to the power usage involved in lighting and environmen-
tal controls; depending on the time of year, it can comprise
up to fifteen percent of the company’s operating cost. But
New Brunswick has some of the lowest power costs in the
country at 5.2 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) versus Ontario for
example, which can be as high as 18 cents per kWh, which puts
the company in a great position to produce an indoor grown
product at a lower cost than in other jurisdictions.

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8

One of the key advantages of indoor production is that the

indoor grown product has consistently been perceived as being
of higher quality compared to lower cost, greenhouse produc-
tion. According to Greg, “Quality is going to a big differentiator,
especially in the adult recreational market. In the medical market,
people are looking for an effect that meets the needs of their
treatment, but I think as we move toward the adult recreational
market that people will look for a perceived quality.”

As Canada moves forward with the legal market, other coun-

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tries have been doing the same. Israel has been at the fore-
front of legal cannabis use for medical purposes and now
Australia and several European countries have joined the
adventure as well. One benefit of this is that there is now more
definitive scientific research happening, which has improved
the potency and also enabled growers to produce strains for
specific, desired effects. Compared to twenty years ago, there
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growing techniques in production facilities.

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Moncton, NB 506.857.0818
Dartmouth, NS 902.453.4498
inquiries@aemltd.com
www.aemltd.com
 9

From a treatment perspective, it is useful to know what effects

to anticipate from medicinal marijuana. CBD or cannabidiol is Are you
a non-psychoactive cannabinoid that is primarily used to treat considering
chronic pain, seizures and other serious ailments. THC or Tetra- medical
hydrocannabinol is the psychoactive component in cannabis
that people are more familiar with, and it is used medically to
cannabis?
treat depression, anxiety and appetite issues. Typically Indica
strains are more sedating and Sativa strains more activating,
We help people who are suffering
and there are hybrids in between that provide a combination
of different cannabis effects. from chronic pain, disabling illness,
PTSD and trauma on their journey
Many medical cannabis users and patients experience comor- to wellness. Our dedicated team of
bidity, and the different strains of cannabis allow users to treat
healthcare professionals uses a
those different issues depending on the time of day and other
multi-disciplinary approach to
factors. Chronic pain is often associated with mental health
and sleep issues, for example; patients may want to use a healing through methods including
Sativa strain during the day to keep a positive attitude and alternative medicine.
switch to Indica at night to relax and sleep without pain. This
process is similar to prescribing anti-depressants that have
different activating and sedating effects. Terpenes such as Contact us to learn about our referral process.
limonene and pinene provide the aromatics of cannabis, and
typically with high quality product there are increased levels 1-844-429-6074
of terpene production. info@traumahc.com
www.traumahc.com
Organigram is still restricted in terms of what it can sell. It is
limited to producing dried cannabis, either as a whole flower
or as a blend, and producing cannabis oil for oral ingestion.
There is a substantial difference between the oil products and
dried cannabis. The main difference between the two is that
the oil has a much slower onset time for the drug to take effect,
and the effects can last much longer. “If you’re vaporizing or
smoking a product it can have an effect within the first five
minutes,” explains Greg. “If you are using oil through oral inges-
tion, it can take up to sixty to ninety minutes to have an effect,
so people have to be more cognizant of when they’re looking
for the effect and what the duration is.” The general rule for oils
and all cannabis use is to start low and go slow.

Our healthcare HOW WE HELP:

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10

The number one preferred way of ingesting cannabis is through

A leading supplier of vaporization. Vaporization is a non-smoking delivery; the
medical marijuana cannabis is heated at a low temperature that doesn’t release
testing. anything but the cannabinoids in water vapour, and it leaves
behind a green material that has not been burned. According
to Greg, “We support vaporizing as an alternative to smoking
and we have a number of vaporizers that we make available to
RPC is licensed by Health Canada to our patients online for purchase. We’ve seen from survey data
perform the analysis of cannabis and oil. we’ve done that vaporization is the preferred route of ingestion
Routine cannabis testing services include: over smoking.” The company also finds the oral oil products
• Cannabinoids (THC, THCA, CBD, CBDA,
CBG, CBGA, CBC, CBN) to be popular, and that many people are moving away from
• Aflatoxins smoking for health reasons.
• Heavy Metals
• Moulds
• Bacteria
• Pesticides
• Terpenes
• Foreign Material
• Moisture Content
• Residual Solvents (oil product)

Contact Us! ( 506.452.1212

Toll Free: 1.800.563.0844
rpc.ca
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5860 Kane St 664 Rothesay Ave
(902) 455-4364 www.halifaxseed.ca (506) 633-2032
 11

As the federal government is developing a regulated and con-

trolled adult recreational program for marijuana we know today
that the system will have appropriate controls on production
so that companies like Organigram focus on following good
production practices and continue to perform rigorous testing
on all product they produce. Along with that, the government
will want to ensure that the drug is distributed in a restricted
manner. “It’s interesting, I have heard consistently that if you
were to ask a teen today whether it is easier for them to get
alcohol or cannabis, it is much easier for them to get cannabis
because alcohol is regulated in terms of how it is sold,” explains
Greg. One of the main goals for the government is to have a
restricted distribution system in place that will prevent access
to cannabis by the youth of Canada. There will also be more
• Mechanical Engineering
education surrounding the topic to eliminate some of the
• Electrical Engineering
stigma associated with cannabis use but also to highlight the
risks associated with chronic cannabis use for adolescents. • LEED Facilitation
• Energy Modelling
Organigram is well prepared for the anticipated growth in the • Strategic Asset Management
market and its focus on quality combined with the low indoor
power costs in New Brunswick is positioning the company to
be a leader in the industry. A flyer in the Organigram offices
reads, “As we celebrate the 150th anniversary of our nation’s
confederacy, we wonder – what is Canada? Two official lan-
guages? Ten provinces and three territories? A rich cultural
mosaic 36 million strong? Just like the most vibrant plants in
our garden, the answer is in our roots.”

Mechanical and Electrical Design Engineers for

the Organigram Projects in Moncton, NB
 35 English Drive, Moncton, NB E1E 3X3 | P: 1-855-961-9420

www.organigram.ca

SUPPORTED BY

ADVANCED ENERGY MANAGEMENT LTD MCW MARICOR

www.aemltd.com www.mcw.com

ADVANCED EXTRACTION SYSTEMS INC. RPC

advancedextractionsystems.com rpc.ca

BIOFLORAL TRAUMA HEALING CENTERS INC.

www.biofloral.com www.traumahc.com

HALIFAX SEED COMPANY VALRON STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS

www.halifaxseed.ca

As featured in October 2017