BC has the Lowest Legal Cannabis Sales. Why?
Lack of Legal Options and Tradition of Black Market Lead to Lowest Legal Cannabis Sales in Canada – LPC
Statistics Canada showed that BC continues to have lowest legal cannabis sales in the country per capita – a fact that puzzles many. The so-called cannabis capital of Canada had just $19.5 million in sales in approximately nine months. In comparison, its neighbour Alberta sold $123 million, Ontario $121 million, and Quebec $119. Even PEI had $10.7 million in legal cannabis sales.
So why the difference?
Co-owner Mike Babins said when they opened Evergreen Cannabis Society in Vancouver, they were the only legal option. However, they weren’t the only option: most skipped legal cannabis sales and kept going to the other cannabis shops.
“They’re starting to close now,” Babins said. “I think we’re up to 11 licences in the city, but we need a lot more than that. Probably 10 times as much as that to feed the city, because we love cannabis.”
“There is a lot of illegal product out there,” he said. “A lot of people who have been doing things a certain way for generations. They don’t want to switch overnight.”
The City of Vancouver announced that there are just five illegal dispensaries now. With more than double the stores, legal cannabis sales should be rising.
Many Reasons for Lagging Sales – LPC
Part of the reason why legal cannabis shops are growing slowly may be the review process.
“Part of the challenge is ensuring that the legal cannabis market in BC doesn’t have links (to crime),” said Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth.
Others, such as Tantalus Labs CEO Dan Sutton, said that blaming low sales on the black market is a “cop out”. Instead, there is a lack of political will to grow the legal market. “I question who are the political champions in the BC legislature who are really advocating for the strong growth.”
Babins himself once said that price was an issue. Specifically, the government’s own markup made legal retail cannabis sales a challenge. Supply chain issues were also a problem. But from the beginning, BC trailed in legalized cannabis sales.
The reality is, there are likely many reasons why BC has fallen behind in legal cannabis sales. The follow-up question is, when will things change in BC?
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