Which brings me to your main contention, that the reason we have the MMPR set up is to provide an export industry to the US. I disagree. IMO – the whole purpose of the MMPR, at least from the Conservatives’ perspective, was to take production out of the hands of the patient, and into the hands of corporations, who could be much more easily controlled and manipulated. They dangled a carrot of huge profits, but smothered it in a thicket of thorny regulations which make it almost impossible to sell. Consider that they are not permitted to do transformations, can’t sell through retail outlets like pharmacies, can’t have it prescribed in hospitals, can’t get their information accredited for CME (continuing medical education), etc. All on a relatively shoestring budget compared to the pharma companies.
And that is about it in a nutshell. It's all about control.