Catch a Fire: The Blaze and Bust of the Canadian Cannabis Industry

by Ben Kaplan

The untold story of the $131-billion Canadian cannabis blow out.Canopy Growth founder Bruce Linton didn’t invent marijuana, but he figured out how to turn a Canadian start-up selling the stuff into a $22-billion international buzz. Catch s Fire goes behind the scenes of Justin Trudeau’s legalization gambit and the stoned pioneering lawyers who helped make weed gummies more valuable than US Steel. From the dope dealers of the 1960s to the never-before-told bribery accusations during Covid-19, cannabis historian Ben Kaplan speaks with the dealers, stealers, and renegade freaks who made and then lost money with the combined chutzpah of Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Sam Bankman-Fried.This is the definitive history of a massive societal change — and a great boom and bust.

Genres: Business

328 pages, Paperback

Published February 11, 2025

Reviews

[Rosemary Standeven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very interested to read this book about the decriminalisation of marijuana in Canada, as I use marijuana (legally, in spray form, paid for by the NHS) for medicinal purposes to help with my multiple sclerosis cramps. I would like to see medicinal marijuana generally available in Britain, and much more research done into its medicinal uses.

“the Parker case forced the Canadian health system to decide who was entitled to medicinal marijuana. Scientists still couldn’t conduct vigorous research because the substance was banned, and most of the best work, on its use since the 1970s for treating soldiers suffering from PTSD, was coming from Israel. Still, the Canadian Medical Association wouldn’t endorse marijuana as medicine. There just wasn’t ample data. What did pot do to the mind? What were the side effects and how dangerous was it? Was it addictive? Could it alleviate pain? CBD hadn’t yet been discovered. What would happen if a sixteen-year-old tried marijuana? No one could produce empirical data on the plant; acquiring it was against the law.”

But, I worry about recreational marijuana being freely available, as it is often skunk here, with very high levels of THC, and linked to schizophrenia (research proof?) in vulnerable people. I really can’t stand the smell of marijuana smoke, and it can give me panic attacks, so don’t want it smoked on the streets. However, I don’t believe possession of small amounts for home use should result in criminal conviction.
So, how did the Canadian legal marijuana experiment go?
It was begun for very noble reasons. Initially it was purely for medicinal use.
Canadian could register to be allowed to buy marijuana for smoking (only) as medicine from designated specific licensed growers, who were limited in the number of plants they could have.
The first move was to increase the amount a medicinal grower could grow – but in order to get the licence, you had to have no criminal convictions. That meant, that many of the people who knew HOW to grow the plant, were excluded. They also weren’t allowed to grow outdoors, so needed very expensive indoor facilities (one of the first was built under a lake!). No advertising was permitted, and you needed a customer list of approved medical patients. Growing licenses could only be approved AFTER you had built the facilities – so it was a complete gamble.
The first non-governmental growing companies were started by long-term marijuana users (not growers), who were visionaries, regarding marijuana with almost religious fervour. They envisaged a world where everyone would smoke joints, and marijuana would become as ubiquitous – and as necessary – as bread. They were not business men, but were very successful in persuading investors to bankroll them. They predicted a huge valuable industry, employing many Canadians, and soon these companies were valued in the billions – before any marijuana was to be produced.
Licences were handed out to a select few. But the volume of marijuana required for medicinal uses far exceeded the amount that could be grown. The legalisation was supposed to herald the end of the black-market drug traffickers, but with a scarcity of product, even some of the legal growers were sourcing illegal weed. Furthermore, the little marijuana that was being legally grown, was of poor quality (‘cos growers who knew what they were doing were prohibited from do it).
The police could not keep up with the changing laws, and were often arresting people who were legally obtaining marijuana, while feeling they needed to give others the benefit of the doubt.
Then, it took more time before shops could be opened to dispense the medicine. Approvals were done on a state-by-state basis. Ontario – the most populous state – was tardy.
With the possibility of general legalisation of pot on the cards, the industry attracted unimaginable investment. Billions upon billions of dollars were invested. Major celebrities became involved, as did fund managers and money men, who knew nothing about marijuana, but did understand commerce. The visionary start-up men (who had been spending like their funds were infinite) were usurped, replaced by professional CEOs.

“This was big money’s worst fear: that these billion-dollar businesses in marijuana behaved in a juvenile fashion, and the acquisitions and mergers, bringing together bitter rivals, often created internal dilemmas.”

The whole industry looked ready for a South-Sea Bubble style collapse. But then COVID hit, and many of the restrictions were relaxed. You couldn’t go out for a meal, and many normal shops were shut – but you could go to a cannabis outlet, or have it delivered to your home. This really cut into the profits of the black-market. The legal industry was saved. But it was a close-run thing.
For other countries thinking about legalising marijuana, there are a lot of lessons to be learned from Canada’s implementation. It did not result in a nation of potheads. The government did earn a lot of tax. Police work was reduced and many fewer people ended up with ridiculously severe criminal convictions.

The idea behind Canadian legalization wasn’t to create a frozen Silicon Valley, an industry that would sell Canadian weed all over the world. It was supposed to rectify bad laws that, from inception, were systemically racist. Legalization enriched people who already had every advantage, who needed no assistance because they were already rich. Justin Trudeau, when he started, seemed to represent such hope for a progressive society but, when he got down to it, became just another politician working angles to survive the next vote,”

The book was very detailed, and not an easy read. I found it difficult to get all the names straight. If you want to know about marijuana legalisation, this is the book for you. Clearly, a lot of research (and passion) has gone into it, and it tells you all you might need to know – and more!
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced by either the author or publisher.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't live in Canada, but I was the GM of a Mid-Michigan provisioning center throughout COVID-19. Being so close to Canada (just 2ish hours to, then through, Detroit) I remember customers showing up to max out our legal limit per transaction. "Drove from Canada" was its own demographic in our shop's marketing scheme.

Ben Kaplan has given us such a thorough background of the inevitable rise of Cannabis, including insight into how "Big Weed" (as we joked in our shop, at least) is working to keep the wheels turning.

Whether you like it or not, cannabis is going to - one day - be as mainstream as alcohol. I'd even go as far as to bet it happens in my lifetime (I'm 28).

Having always lived in the US I wasn't paying Canada much attention (no offense to my new Canada friends lol) until they became a competitor in sales. This would have been the perfect introduction to the market and its history back then! Now, I'm happy to have it as another reference during this time of incredible social change.

{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Ben Kaplan and Dundurn Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!}

[John Staley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A history of 21st century pot in Canada, focusing on the industry navigation, politics, and business results of the country's pioneering 2018 federal canna legalization. It's more Business Insider than HST.

The book mainly highlights an M&A arms race of cannabis CEOs' obsessed with winning total addressable market. Interestingly, some of the bosses don't even smoke weed! Other highlights include an underscore from the underground.

The author, Ben Kaplan, is a journalist for the Canadian newspaper, The Globe and Mail. A different buddha book, Brave New Weed, is also written by an author from the print world, magazine editor Joe Dolce.

Brave New Weed reads a bit more rock 'n' roll, with descriptive writing and a first-hand look to industry characters and products. This book details pot bosses' ruminations... and frequently jumps between chron*ology*, Canadian street names, and not-so introduced names of industry players' names. Still, a page turner.

[Enid Wray]

I'm clearly not the reader for this title.

Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for granting me access to an early digital review copy.

DNF