On the first day of the expected legalization of marijuana for recreational use, long lines of consumers were surprised to discover that some stores in Canada ran out of product to supply the enthusiastic demand.
Our store received a hundred orders in the first minute of the legalization and in the first hour we had sold about 50 thousand dollars, “said Gary Symons, communications director of the Delta 9 store in Winnipeg, Manitoba, explaining that everything had already been sold Your supply of marijuana.
Meanwhile, the Ontario Cannabis Store government site received 38 thousand orders of cannabis Wednesday morning, so it is closed the day with historical sales that amounted to 750 thousand dollars.
In Quebec, with physical and online stores administered by the government 42,000 orders were attended, which exceeded the expectation.
In the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan and the Arctic territory of Nunavut, shortages were also reported.
The Ontario online site published on Thursday afternoon that the customer may have a delay in delivery due to the amount of demand. In addition, next Monday the postal service Canada Post, plans to start a strike.
It’s not the line to buy the new iPhone, it’s the Canadian consumers waiting outside of cannabis stores.
According to data from the official body Statistics Canada, there are 4.9 million cannabis smokers in the country and the potential score is 5.4 million Canadians.
It is expected that the legal sales of cannabis will boost the economy in 1.1 billion Canadian dollars and that the government will collect about 400 million dollars in taxes.
The Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction, Bill Blair, trusted that the regulation around the Cannabis Law will contribute to create a better environment for adolescents and communities regarding the sale and of marijuana.
Organized crime has benefited for almost a century with billions of dollars for these sales, “added the former police chief of Toronto who was in charge of the general regulation of cannabis.
He said that, for example, yesterday the official site of online sales Ontario Cannabis Store captured $ 750,000 in sales of marijuana “that were not in the hands of organized crime and that supported the legal work of Canadians in this industry.”
The price of the gram of marijuana varies according to the province. In Quebec it is sold at $ 5.25 and in Saskatchewan at $ 18.99. The price of cannabis gram in the illegal market is around 6.79 dollars per gram.
Canada yesterday became the second country in the world, after Uruguay, to legalize recreational marijuana and the first of the Group of the seven most industrialized countries (G-7).
Canada this week became the second country in the world, after Uruguay, to legalize recreational marijuana.
The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau let each of the ten provinces and three indigenous territories of the country determine the application of the Cannabis Law.
In some provinces, such as Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan and Alberta, the sale of marijuana was allowed through private establishments monitored by the government, while in others, such as Quebec, Ontario and Yukon, sales through stores are only permitted. or online sites managed by these provincial governments.
Provinces without private marijuana stores urged cannabis dispensaries for medical treatment to close their doors last Tuesday so they can be used to apply for a product license for recreational purposes.
In Quebec, 42,000 orders were handled with physical and online stores run by the government.
Some stores did but others remained open without police raids.
The authorities justified that the process of transition from illegal to legal purchases will not take place but will take place and the priority in the first days of legalization will be to ensure that there are no drivers of vehicles under the influence of marijuana, which according to specialists takes up five hours to disappear.
