Executive chairman of Medicanja Dr Henry Lowe on Friday confirmed to the Jamaica Observer that the company is looking to list on both the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) junior market and the Jamaica Stock Exchange by the first quarter of 2018.

CEO of R&D Pharma in Canada Derrick Lewis, while tight-lipped on the details of the initial public offering, told Sunday Finance that the funds raised will be used to build out the corporate structure of Medicanja in Jamaica and Canada.

The company is allowed to raise a maximum of CAN$7 million from the stock market. The listing of Medicanja will bring the total of marijuana-linked companies to 13 since the start of the year, according to the CSE website. It will, however, be the first of its kind to list on the local market.

Still, Jamaica and Canada are not the only markets Lowe is eyeing. Plans are well advanced for listing on the Australian and United States stock markets as well. Canada, however, is set to become one of the first advanced industrialised nations to legalise and regulate marijuana.

Under the proposed legislation, the Canadian government would license the growing of cannabis by tightly regulated producers and set standards for potency and penalties for abuse. The provinces would decide on methods for distribution.

Just Thursday, Medicanja launched six products, namely canjaCol, relevium cream, relevium spray, canjarub, somnican and tivasat to be used for the treatment of pains, swelling and strains. The products, which have been in production since 2013, will be available in more than 20 pharmacies islandwide by next week.

The launch follows on the unveiling of products designed to treat and manage some 84 maladies, including Ganja Relief, Ganja Salve, Ganjaflam, Ganja Col, Ganja Rub, Ganja Pain and Ganja Sure.

Lowe has also been recognised for development of Cresorol, an anti-cancer drug made from marijuana predicted to rake in annual sales of US$250 million.

He noted that once properly organised, the local market could see sustained earnings of US$1.5 billion per year in the next three years, revenues that would grow to surpass the tourism industry and even remittance inflows.

“When Medicanja was set up, I promised the people of Jamaica that not everybody who thought about getting in the medical cannabis business would have the interest in getting into the business directly themselves. Consequently, Medicanja was established to offer the vehicle for them to invest and get involved in industry,” he told the Jamaica Observer.