Sascha Mielcar, CEO of Canify AG, inspects all the suppliers the company buys from, retesting each batch and discarding anything out of specification. However, cannabis from other companies is reaching German pharmacies that cannot meet these standards. “There is a market in Germany where you wonder how the product got into it,” says Sascha. The certification standards, he believes, are not being strictly applied.

© Canify

“I don’t like the term GMP cleaning, it’s a complex methodology,” says Sascha. His concern is the microbiological purity of what reaches the patients, a product that clears certification abroad and would not survive the same examination in Germany. Canify only sells flowers that are GMP certified, and Sascha would rather turn away business than release something out of spec.

For repair, Canify uses a GMP validated method. “We don’t revel in repairs, but if we do, we do it through a qualified, validated process,” says Sascha. Others in the market use various methods and claim GMP validation, and Sascha is skeptical of the extent of these standards.

From the early days to the international footprint
Canify was among the first movers in the German market. Founded in 2018, obtained GMP certification in 2021 after three years and huge expenses, trading since the end of 2022, imports, processes and releases products from various countries, including Portugal, Canada, Uruguay, Colombia, South Africa, Lesotho, Spain, Denmark and North Macedonia, for its brands and telemedicine and clinical services on its German soil. Its volume grew tenfold in 2024 and fivefold again in 2025, although price compression means revenue has not grown in line with volume. The company has also announced a merger with MG Health, a Lesotho-based grower and manufacturer with GMP I and II certified facilities, a step that Sascha calls Canify vertically integrated on two continents, and what he believes to be the first fully integrated operator of its kind outside of Canada.

© Canify

Cannabis from a bunker in Nato
The manufacturing site has an unusual history. As cannabis was classified as a narcotic, storage regulations were strict, and Canify built its vault inside a former NATO bunker. “It’s a regular piece of real estate, but it’s quite useful,” says Sascha.

© Canify

In terms of product formats, little has changed. Germany remains a compound market where pharmaceuticals are prepared and the main form factor is still dried flower. “We’re using Stone Age form factors, dried flowers,” says Sascha. He doubts whether edibles are legal in Germany and is wary of vaporizers, where the certification covers the device rather than the cartridge, and there are voices calling for the disappearance of these products from the market. Canify is investing in a fully certified device, closer to an inhaler than a vaporizer, designed for precise dosing and high bioavailability. “Germany remains a composite market, the only real way is to work with pharma,” concludes Sascha.

For more information:
Canify AG
canify.com

Blizza Brands Inc., a federally licensed cannabis grower and processor based in London, Ontario, filed a notice of intent to file a proposal on June 23, 2026, after Canada Revenue Agency enforcement actions threatened its tax license, bank accounts and operating assets.

Blizza produces recreational cannabis sold through provincial wholesalers including the Ontario Cannabis Store, and markets products under the VOLO, OP, KWALL, Deep Value and KEFF brands. The company also does wholesale and processing of cannabis for other licensed growers. The facility at 371 Neptune Crescent has approximately 9,000 square feet of indoor cultivation and processing, and employed 8 full-time employees and 2 independent contractors at the time of filing.

Internal filings as of May 31 show assets with a book value of about $5.4 million, including approximately $2.9 million in property and equipment and $2 million in inventory. Cash was approximately $43,000, accounts receivable approximately $25,000, and an additional $120,000 was held as a CRA escrow deposit. Unsecured obligations total approximately $1.44 million, including approximately $599,196 owed to the CRA. The company has a $1.1 million mortgage on the London facility, bearing 13% interest and maturing on October 19, 2026.

Blizza attributes its financial difficulties to deficiencies in its financial and accounting functions beginning around 2024, which led to delays and inaccuracies in tax reporting, remittances and regulatory compliance. The company says these problems were compounded by taxes, compressed margins, intense competition and increased liquidity pressures in the cannabis sector, with excise taxes often being paid before customer receivables were collected.

The CRA ramped up its response significantly in the weeks leading up to the filing. On May 13, it renewed Blizza’s tax license for one month only, describing the renewal as permanent unless Blizza meets its filing and payment obligations. On June 15, the CRA announced that the license would not be renewed, and officers went to the facility the next day, destroying some cannabis inventory, plants and genetics. The CRA also registered three tax liens against the facility on June 16 and issued payment demands to OCS and other receivers, while seizure measures froze Blizza’s main operating accounts at the Bank of Montreal.

After negotiations, the CRA extended the restrictions from June 19 to June 30, which prohibited cultivation, processing, packaging, stamping and sale, and required Blizza to pay all current balances and arrears, file returns and provide an additional $16,000 in financial security. Blizza began NOI proceedings to preserve its Health Canada and excise licenses while it evaluates restructuring alternatives and develops a proposal for creditors. Ethos Advisory/Goldhar & Associates is acting as proposal trustee, with Miller Thomson as counsel to Blizza and Dickinson Wright as trustee.

A major banking organization is asking Congress to pass legislation to make marijuana businesses easier to access financial services.

The Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act would “provide important legal and regulatory clarity” and “address an important challenge facing American businesses, our communities and the banks that serve them,” the American Bankers Association (ABA) wrote in a letter to House and Senate leaders.

Bipartisan lawmakers in both houses of Congress It revamped the cannabis banking legislation last month—The latest development in the long-term push for reform, which has passed the House several times and advanced through a Senate committee, but has yet to become law.

“While almost all US states have legalized marijuana in some form, the uncertain legal landscape governing the revenue streams of these state-licensed businesses means that these businesses often operate in cash, outside of the regulated banking system,” the ABA’s new letter says. “This state legal revenue also goes to non-cannabis businesses and service providers, including accountants, skilled trades, landlords and law firms.

“The SAFE Banking Act would remove barriers to banking these funds, significantly reducing the amount of money moving through the state’s licensed cannabis businesses and service providers,” the group wrote. “This, in turn, would reduce the risk of these businesses being targeted by bad actors, thereby improving public safety in the communities in which they operate.”

Developments in the legal definition of hemp and federal reorganization of medical marijuana “It underscores the need for Congress to act” on the issue, the ABA said.

“As a result, the volume of marijuana-related products and state-licensed profits is likely to increase significantly, increasing public safety and illicit financial risks,” the letter states. “SAFE Banking would provide the necessary certainty by allowing these funds to enter—or enter—the regulated banking system.”

“Passing this legislation would reduce illicit financial risk and increase financial transparency of cannabis and hemp-derived income. Highly regulated banks and other financial institutions must comply with strict anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws and regulations, conduct due diligence on their customers, monitor transactions for suspicious activity, and register formal state and financial systems. Providing a significant level of transparency and accountability to financial institutions enabling better identification and reporting of illicit financial risk.”

The the letterAddressed to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), along with the chairs and members of the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee, the SAFE Banking Act calls for “immediate” passage through Congress.

The House passed versions of the SAFE Banking Act seven times, and The Senate Banking Committee passed a cannabis banking measure In 2023 but later he was not taken to the ground and died at the end of the 118th Congress.

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Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who currently chairs the banking panel, said recently that marijuana remains illegal at the federal level while more states legalize it. It created a “quandary” for cannabis companies and banks looking to serve them.

Although Scott has opposed cannabis banking reform in the past, he said the bill would “solve the banking problem by making banking legal,” Scott said. “What you don’t want is to have these vault rooms where there are hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash sitting in one place. Everybody knows you can’t bank and so the criminal activity is much higher in these places.”