Walmart: to sell or not to sell cannabis products – that is a question

October 17th will be the first day when legal marijuana sales start in Canada. In the light of that, many world-known drink producers such as Coca-Cola, Walmart and Corona think over the ways of getting profit from cannabis-related products offering.

Currently, the big businesses are interested in combining traditional products with cannabis. For true market giants, it’s not that difficult to come up with brand-new cannabis-infused drink concepts. Active discussions are held around cannabis, but many companies are just playing with the idea (for now). While many just study the issue and gather necessary information, others have already made a fortune on selling stuff containing cannabis. Take a look at Constellation Brands, a major US alcohol drinks retailer, owning $4 billion stake in Canopy Growth Corporation.

Great news from Canada

Wallmart, a company known for its conservatism, recently allowed the online sale of American Cannabis’ soil mix. That reveals positive changes in company’s policy towards marijuana sales, and is percepted by many as an attempt to please customers-to-be.

Recently, Canadian branch of Walmart Inc. announced that it’s ready to sell cannabis-containing goods. Namely, they made a research on cannabidiol (CBD), a compound free of psychoactive effects, extracted from cannabis. This component is widely used for producing a great range of products: creams, coffee drinks, sleeping drugs.

Hype or Hope?

Diane Medeiros, a spokeswoman, informed Bloomberg: “As we would for any new industry, Walmart Canada has done some preliminary fact-finding on this issue, but we do not have plans to carry CBD products at this time.”

Walmart has chosen a good moment to make those statements. Canada is a week away from getting the first G7 country to legalize marijuana. Last week, the Drug Enforcement Administration approved the anti-seizure CBD-based Epidiolex medicine. It seems that Walmart is trying to make a hype to attract more potential buyers. Read a full story