U.S. Firm Gets Tentative Nod to Tap Canadian MMJ Market

Michigan-based supplement company Creative Edge Nutrition could become the first U.S. firm to distribute medical marijuana in Canada.

The company has received tentative approval from the country’s health department to grow, distribute, import and export medical marijuana and seeds via its Canadian subsidiary, CEN Biotech, according to Creative Edge CEO Bill Chaaban.

CEN Biotech is currently building a $16 million, 58,000-square-foot cultivation facility in Ontario. It could begin distributing medical cannabis in late summer or fall after it receives final approval.

Canada recently opened up its medical marijuana industry to the free market, which has created immense opportunities for U.S. businesses.

Creative Edge – which recorded $2 million in revenue during the first half of 2013 – expects to generate roughly $100 million annually in sales in five years, in large part because of the Canadian expansion.

Chaaban told Forbes that the company will begin distributing seeds to other countries including Mexico, Iran and North Korea – though how he would actually do so is unclear.

Creative Edge (ticker symbol: FITX) trades for roughly a penny on the pink sheets.