Tag: Canada

The Ministry of the Attorney General in Ontario, Canada recently announced that it is seeking public input regarding licensing social cannabis use venues and events. Social cannabis use venues such as cannabis lounges and cafes are currently prohibited in Ontario. Consumption at public events is also currently prohibited.

“Ontario continues to take a responsible approach to cannabis retail sales across Ontario, allowing private sector businesses to build a safe and convenient retail system to combat the illegal market while keeping our kids and communities safe,” said Attorney General Doug Downey in a press release. “We are asking Ontarians to share their feedback as we explore certain expanded cannabis-related business opportunities as part of our responsible approach to protecting families and communities. What we hear from the public and expert groups will help to inform possible next steps.”

Social cannabis use reform provides a number of benefits. The most obvious one is that it will create new types of businesses that cater specifically to providing spaces for people to consume cannabis. Just as people frequent clubs, bars, taverns, and pubs for the purpose of consuming alcohol in a social environment, so too will cannabis consumers be able to do the same in Ontario sooner rather than later.

Another benefit of social cannabis use reform is that it will help mitigate public consumption, which can be considered to be a nuisance by some members of the public, similar to many people’s desires to avoid tobacco smoke. Public consumption would likely not be eliminated entirely in Ontario if/when social use reform is implemented, but it will help address the issue to some extent.

An interesting benefit being touted by regulators in Ontario is that legalizing social cannabis venues and event licensing will help further combat the unregulated cannabis industry in Ontario. Consumers may be able to make legal purchases, however, not all of them have a place to safely consume the cannabis that they purchase. It’s an issue that affects tourists, individuals in low-income housing, as well as patients in care facilities.

Presumably, some portion of people in those situations prefer to purchase cannabis from unregulated sources simply because the individual that they are making the purchase from will let them consume cannabis where they are located. Social consumption reform would provide regulated alternatives, which is a good policy move for Ontario as long as it is implemented properly.

Ontario is one of many jurisdictions in North America that is seeking to allow regulated social cannabis consumption at establishments and at events. Valid concerns exist regarding social cannabis use reform, not the least of which is mitigating impaired driving and keeping cannabis out of the hands of children. However, those concerns can be properly addressed with sensible policies and regulations.

If venues can serve alcohol in a responsible manner, the same can be achieved with serving cannabis and/or allowing people to bring their own cannabis for consumption. The same is true for concerts, plays, and other events. Some jurisdictions, such as Denver, Colorado and the Bay Area of California, have already successfully implemented social use reforms, which is something that regulators in Ontario can no doubt learn from.

For decades people were inundated with anti-cannabis propaganda all over the planet. That unfortunate phenomena still exists in many parts of the world, however, an increasing number of countries are choosing to reform their cannabis laws.

Canada is one of those countries, having been home to a large medical cannabis community for a while now and having become the first G-7 nation to legalize cannabis for adult-use last year. Uruguay legalized cannabis for adult use prior to Canada doing so, however, it does not have as robust of a regulated cannabis industry as Canada does.

The stigma is fading in Canada now that people are seeing that the sky hasn’t fallen post-legalization.

Typically the older a person is, the less likely they are to support cannabis reform and/or personally consume cannabis, and while that’s still the case in Canada, seniors are now the fastest-growing cannabis consumer age group according to data recently released by Statistics Canada:

Cannabis use is less common among seniors than it is in other age groups (7%, compared with 10% at ages 45 to 64, 25% at ages 25 to 44, and 26% at ages 15 to 24). However, cannabis consumption among seniors has been accelerating at a much faster pace than it has among other age groups. For example, in 2012, less than 1% of seniors (about 40,000) reported using, contrasting sharply with estimates from 2019 indicating that more than 400,000 seniors have used cannabis in the past three months.

The increasing popularity of cannabis among older adults has also contributed to an increase in the average age of cannabis users, which has risen from 29.4 years in 2004 to 38.1 in 2019.

The data released by Statistics Canada demonstrated that 27% of the consumers in the senior age group were brand new cannabis consumers. The data also demonstrated that seniors were less frequent users compared to younger age groups, that they were more likely to use cannabis for medical reasons compared to other age groups, and that they were much more likely to exclusively make their purchases from legal sources.

Cannabis stigma has been much more prevalent in decades past, which is reflected in this data. Younger consumers were not subjected to as much reefer madness as older generations, and so it’s not a coincidence that younger people are more likely to have consumed cannabis than older citizens.

But as the stigma continues to fade and seniors share their positive cannabis experiences with other seniors, the consumption rates for the senior age group will continue to rise, which is not a bad thing at all.

One of the biggest benefits of legalizing and regulating cannabis sales is taking revenue away from the unregulated cannabis market. An unregulated cannabis market is never entirely operated by gangs and cartels, however, it is well documented that gangs and cartels do use illegal cannabis sales in some cases to help generate revenue.

Rather than having consumer dollars supporting those types of entities, it is much better for consumer dollars to support a regulated system in which revenue is generated by licensed entrepreneurs, some of which goes to taxes that support society. It is better for local economies and it is ultimately better for consumers who are able to purchase tested products that have met industry safety standards.

Convincing consumers to make their purchases through a regulated system is easier said than done. A number of factors affect consumer purchasing practices, with arguably the biggest factor being the cost of the cannabis to the end consumer.

Regulated options provide a number of non-monetary benefits including variety and convenience. However, those benefits only go so far. If regulated cannabis is significantly more expensive than unregulated cannabis, consumers will often make their purchases through unregulated sources.

A Canadian cannabis company has announced that it is going to offer a cannabis flower option that will cost less than the average price of cannabis flower from unregulated cannabis dispensaries. Per Global News:

Cannabis company Hexo Corp. says it is aiming to undercut prices in the illicit market with its new 28-gram product, that costs as much as one dollar less per gram than at a illegal dispensary.

Hexo says the product will be on sale in Quebec cannabis stores for $125.70 taxes included, or $4.49 per gram.

Statistics Canada’s latest price analysis based on crowdsourced data showed that the average cost of a gram of cannabis was $7.37 during the third quarter, with the price of legal and illegal weed slipping to $10.23 and $5.59 per gram, respectively.

The cannabis flower will be sold under the name ‘Original Stash’ and will have a THC content between the range of 12% and 18%. The THC percentage could be an issue and affect the potential success of the new offering. Many cannabis consumers prefer cannabis flower that tests at 20% or above.

The proposed price for the 28 grams of Original Stash could also be an issue too. $4.49 per gram may be lower than the average price of a gram at an unregulated dispensary in Canada, but it’s likely not lower than a non-dispensary gram of flower. Consumers may still be able to find cannabis for cheaper from a local dealer and continue to opt to make purchases from them.

With that being said, the lower price should still cut into unregulated cannabis sales to some extent. How much of an impact it will ultimately have is something that will be determined in the coming months as sales data is compiled and analyzed.

Roughly a year ago Canada became the first G-7 nation to legalize cannabis for adult-use. Canada rolled out a regulated adult-use cannabis industry in a limited fashion last October. Canada’s model was built around cannabis flower sales, which will be changing soon.

In just a handful of weeks cannabis edibles, vape products, beverages, and other items will hit regulated cannabis store shelves in Canada. The delayed implementation is a result of Canadian lawmakers and regulators needing more time to come up with regulations for cannabis beyond just flower sales.

By mid-December, the new products will go on sale in Canada which is going to be a really big milestone for Canada’s cannabis industry. The historic launch is being dubbed ‘cannabis 2.0’ in media coverage around the globe. Cannabis 2.0 is expected to provide a significant boost to Canada’s economy. Per Financial Post:

The introduction of extracts is estimated to add an additional $2.7 billion to the cannabis market, according to Deloitte, but as producers add dozens of new products, retailers may already be facing a crunch in terms of how much of it they can actually carry.

Cannabis 2.0 will help address the ongoing issue of consumers continuing to purchase cannabis products from Canada’s unregulated market. Consumers want more options than just cannabis flower. The unregulated industry will never be eliminated in Canada, however, many consumers prefer to purchase cannabis from regulated sources as long as the prices are reasonable. Hopefully that proves to be the case in Canada.

Price points and shelf access are going to be two really big determining factors as to whether cannabis 2.0 is successful or misses the mark. If cannabis edibles and other new products are expensive and hard to find, it will obviously result in consumers continuing to turn to unregulated sources.

Canada was the second country to legalize cannabis for adult use and the first to implement a regulated, open-to-all, adult-use cannabis industry. Uruguay was the first to legalize cannabis for adult use, however, Uruguay’s industry is very limited.

The rollout of a regulated adult-use cannabis industry in Canada has experienced its ups and downs, which is expected considering that Canada was the first to ever tackle such a monumental undertaking. Some opponents have claimed that Canada’s public policy change was not worth it, however, the math does not back that up.

Statistics Canada put out new information this week about the cannabis industry’s economic impact, and the numbers are huge. Per BNN Bloomberg:

Canada’s cannabis sector contributed $8.26 billion to the country’s gross domestic product as of July, a steady increase from the $7.02 billion last October when recreational cannabis was legalized, according to new data published by Statistics Canada on Tuesday. The StatsCan figures also show Canada’s legal cannabis industry has grown by a whopping 185 per cent in the first 10 months since recreational marijuana was legalized. The black market’s cannabis output has fallen by 21 per cent in that same time, according to StatsCan estimates.

A lot of discussions about measuring Canada’s cannabis industry success focus on total sales figures, the amount of cannabis cultivated, and other direct measurements. Those types of measurements are worth noting, however, they don’t capture the full picture of the cannabis industry’s economic impact on the country.

Because the cannabis industry contributes billions of dollars to Canada’s overall GDP, it’s an industry that benefits all members of Canada in one way or another whether they consume cannabis or not. Canada’s adult-use cannabis industry is still very young, so the numbers put out by Statistics Canada this week should increase well into the future.

Canada has a very rich history when it comes to cannabis, which is one of the many reasons why we choose to host an annual event in Vancouver, British Columbia. The cannabis industry rules and regulations in Canada are obviously not perfect, however, they are better than full prohibition as the available math demonstrates.

One very large benefit to reforming cannabis laws and implementing a regulated cannabis industry is the creation of jobs. Unlike many other industries, the cannabis industry can operate in virtually any area, including in rural areas.

Industries come and go as the decades go by. Market shifts, changes in consumer preferences occur, and/or a number of other things happen that affect job opportunities in a given geographic area.

The legal cannabis industry is still largely just getting started in many places, including Canada. Canada’s legal cannabis industry has made large strides in recent years, however, it’s still in its infancy compared to other industries.

Canada’s ongoing effort to implement a robust, nationwide regulated industry has seen hurdles and experienced some setbacks, but it has also had successes that are worth noting, including statistics regarding the number of legal cannabis jobs in the country.

Per Bloomberg, the number of jobs being created by Canada’s legal cannabis industry is increasing at an exponential rate:

Employment in Canada’s cannabis industry has nearly quadrupled in the past year, while the number of companies in the space has more than doubled, according to the latest Statistics Canada data.

StatsCan reported Thursday that there are 9,200 people currently working in the Canadian cannabis sector, up from 2,630 in the fiscal 2018 year and 1,438 in fiscal 2017. Meanwhile, the number of companies in the industry is now tallied at 175, up from 83 a year earlier and 37 in 2017, StatsCan said.

People from all types of backgrounds are scrambling to get into the cannabis industry, and for good reason. A career in cannabis can be very exciting and rewarding, and unlike many other industries, the future of the cannabis industry is extremely bright.

It will be interesting to see where Canada’s cannabis industry employment numbers are at a year from now, five years from now, and beyond. If you are looking to learn more about Canada’s cannabis industry we invite you to check out our upcoming event in Vancouver, British Columbia September 15-16. We hope to see you there!

About the International Cannabis Business Conference

International Cannabis Business Conference events are the premier cannabis events for entrepreneurs across the globe. With events in Canada, the United States, Switzerland, Spain, and Germany the International Cannabis Business Conference is where the world meets cannabis. Find out more at InternationalCBC.com and on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.