Social Cannabis Legalized in Canada: Nation-Wide Shortage For Years To Come As Demand Overwhelms Supply

[genecop]

Can’t wait for the laws to spread across the old USA..

 

[Andy Capp]

Can’t wait for the laws to spread across the old USA..

I remember when I was in my 20's and we all said, Canada will never legalize weed because the Americans are so against it, you know, the war on drugs and all that. So to me, your statement is ironic; I believe it was legalization in places like Colorado (and all the tax income that flowed from it) that paved the way for Canada to go fully green.

On the other hand, I think it's also a sign Canada is less dependent upon the US in general.

 

[Arkain2K]

I remember when I was in my 20's and we all said, Canada will never legalize weed because the Americans are so against it, you know, the war on drugs and all that. So to me, your statement is ironic; I believe it was legalization in places like Colorado (and all the tax income that flowed from it) that paved the way for Canada to go fully green.

On the other hand, I think it's also a sign Canada is less dependent upon the US in general.

Weed is heading the same direction as tobacco, everyone can see that when they look at the U.S map getting greener every year.

Canada was a major source for our hooch distribution during the Prohibition. I think eventually American mega corporations who already poured tens of billions of dollars into cannabis research in the U.S as well as investing billions into Canadian start-ups these past couple of years will swoop in and consolidate a bunch of local Canadian weed companies, and become the major source of cannabis products for Canada, especially when your domestic supplies are severely below the domestic demands.

PS: On a related note, I fully expect Canopy will become a wholely-owned subsidiary of Constellation a few years from now:

Among companies that have already taken major positions in the marijuana industry, Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) leads the field. With a market capitalization of more than $40 billion, the maker of Corona and Modelo beers has bought its way into the cannabis space with successive investments in Canopy Growth. The beer maker's most recent investment of roughly $4 billion took its stake in Canopy up to 38%, and Constellation also received warrants that give it the option to take a controlling interest in the cannabis specialist.

Some speculate that Constellation will eventually take Canopy over outright, bringing the cannabis company fully onto its consolidated financial reports. So far, Constellation's measured approach reflects a healthy skepticism about whether marijuana will overcome challenges like an extensive black market and ongoing regulatory challenges in key jurisdictions to grow even more quickly. If pot takes off, though, Constellation will be in the best position among current players in the cannabis space to take advantage and push its market cap higher to 12-figure territory.

https://www.fool.com/amp/investing/2018/10/22/100-billion-pot-companies-these-3-stocks-could-be.aspx​

 

[SammyPops]

Its been like a week, and I've already heard potheads complaining about not being able to smoke during breaks at work.

 

[j123]

My closest grocery store (so and so's "independent") has a ton of beer that rivals the LCBO and 80% is in the cooler.

I agree it sucks that you can only buy Ontario wines at the grocery store, but hopefully it will change soon.

The LCBO itself is pretty good price and hours wise, but I guess that depends on the city you live in.

That's just beer though, liquor is still restricted to LCBO

Besides not all grocery stores sell beer. So far I've seen some some Walmarts, No Frills, and Metro. Haven't seen in others yet

 

[Andy Capp]

Weed is heading the same direction as tobacco, everyone can see that when they look at the U.S map getting greener every year.

Canada was a major source for our hooch distribution during the Prohibition. I think eventually American mega biotech corporations who already poured tens of billions of dollars into cannabis research in the U.S will swoop in and consolidate a bunch of local Canadian weed companies, and become the major source of cannabis products for Canada, especially when your domestic supplies are severely below the domestic demands.

Below standard in what way? The strength of legal weed is currently capped at ~20% anyway as far as I can tell. If the standard is THC concentration, it wouldn't appear to be below anything. If not, I really have no idea what you could mean.

Edit: also, in what way like tobacco?

 

[Arkain2K]

Below standard in what way? The strength of legal weed is currently capped at ~20% anyway as far as I can tell. If the standard is THC concentration, it wouldn't appear to be below anything. If not, I really have no idea what you could mean.

I don't think you've read that properly.

"Your domestic supplies are severely below the domestic demands" means there are now way more buyers than there are affordable products on the shelves ready for them.

It's an economics kind of thing, and often happens when a brand-new market is opening up.

 

[Andy Capp]

I don't think you've read that properly.

"Domestic Supply is below Domestic Demands" means there are way more buyers than there are products on the shelves ready for them.

I believe I was seeing things. The only explanation for my misunderstanding is that I saw something that wasn't there. My apologies.

On the other hand, now that I see my mistake, I object on a different basis. Mismanagement may have caused shortages so far here and there, but it is not a supply capacity problem, imo. Although, having said that, I realize you may not have said that without data to back it up and I'm talking out my ass. But if so, it's deliberate to get you to supply said data for my edification. Undoubtedly, Canada has the largest supplier of cannabis in the world at the moment, if the news is to be believed.

 

[Arkain2K]

Cannabis retailers, governments warn of lingering supply shortage
BY THE CANADIAN PRESS | OCT 18, 2018

Demand for newly legal pot appears to be outstripping supply on the second day of legalization as retailers ran low on some products or were cleaned out completely, manifestations of a shortfall that some provinces warned could last for months.

Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries said Thursday that it is expecting product shortages in both brick-and-mortar and online stores could last “up to at least six months.”

“Every province — not just Manitoba — is receiving substantially less cannabis than originally requested… Retailers in Manitoba will be receiving staggered shipments over the next few weeks (some daily) in an effort to meet their requests,” said a spokeswoman for the Manitoba crown corporation in an email.

A B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch spokeswoman said that “shortages are/were expected to impact all jurisdictions across Canada as some (licensed producers) look to opportunities in overseas markets.”

Four of the largest licensed producers indicated to B.C. earlier this month they would not ship their full product commitment in time for the launch of online sales and the province’s lone store, she added.

“LPs point to a number of factors in reduced product volume and assortment including issues with supply chain, lower than expected crop yields, and insufficient supply of packaging materials,” the spokeswoman said in an email.

Retailers saw long lineups and a wave of online purchases Wednesday as Canadians rushed to make their first-ever purchase of legal recreational pot and witness the historic moment.

Cannabis industry players and watchers had earlier warned that there would be product shortages amid supply chain issues, but the actual appetite of Canadian consumers for legal pot was unclear until the day it became legal.

By most accounts from provinces that did provide figures, demand was high.

On the first day of legalization in Canada, Quebec’s crown cannabis corporation had recorded more than 12,500 in-store transactions and 30,000 online orders, which “far exceeds” its expectations.

The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation said it conducted 12,810 transactions totalling more than $660,000 in sales, of which almost $47,000 were online, a spokeswoman said. In Prince Edward Island, total sales on the first day was more than $152,000 after tax, nearly $21,000 of which was online.

In Alberta, where private retailers handle in-store sales, the government-run website processed 8,300 orders as of 3:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday, worth approximately $730,000, a spokeswoman for the province’s gaming, liquor and cannabis commission.

The online-only Ontario Cannabis Store would not release specific numbers, but spokesman Daffyd Roderick said “the response to cannabis legalization has resulted in a high volume of orders.” Online delivery will now take as long as five days, as opposed to the earlier timeline of one to three days, due to the volume of orders in the first 24 hours, he added. Ontario Premier Doug Ford had said on Wednesday morning that OCS.ca had handled 38,000 orders since its midnight launch.

A B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch spokeswoman said it handled about 9,100 orders online in the first 24 hours and 800 transactions at its brick-and-mortar store in Kamloops in the first day.

“The first day of recreational sales in Canada appears to have been a success highlighted by the long lines and enthusiasm from shoppers,” said GMP Securities analyst Martin Landry, after his research team visited retail stores in four different provinces to take the pulse of shoppers.

After surveying 100 customers, Landry and his team found that customers on average bought $80 to $90 worth of cannabis, with variations between provinces. Eastern Canada consumers had a basket size of between $60 and $70, but in Quebec and Alberta it was $90 and $100, respectively, he said in a note to clients.

“Seeing cannabis shoppers wait in lines as opposed to take the traditional easy illegal supply route is refreshing and bodes well for the recreational market in Canada,” he said.

The lines stretched into the hundreds at some retail locations across the country on Wednesday, and some provinces said they saw shorter queues on Thursday.

Still, the country-wide supply crunch continued to make it difficult for cannabis retailers to meet existing demand.

The Quebec Cannabis Corp. said Thursday that some items are unavailable on its website and it expects further product shortages — particularly oil, capsules, atomizers and pre-rolled joints — going forward.

“Given the craze created by the legalization of cannabis and the scarcity of products across Canada, the (corporation) expects significant short-term supply challenges,” it said in a statement on Thursday.

Alberta and Prince Edward Island also said Thursday certain products have sold out online, and Nova Scotia said it ran out of certain strains.

Private retailer Thomas Clarke in Newfoundland and Labrador said he is continuing to turn away customers at his store in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s after completely selling out of product Wednesday.

Chief executive of retailer Fire and Flower, Trevor Fencott, said its five stores in Alberta and Saskatchewan are fully stocked but it won’t launch its online store for Saskatchewan until it receives more supply.

Consumers going to British Columbia’s website on Wednesday were told that several strains of marijuana were sold out and B.C.’s only retail location in Kamloops ran out of one variety of dried cannabis.

The province’s Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said Thursday he wasn’t concerned the province would run out of legal marijuana in the first days of legalization.

Farnworth said new supplies will arrive as other strains of pot sell out.

“This is an agriculture product, so we’ll get some varieties coming in soon and others may take a little while to put in place,” he said. “As we know the federal government has put in place additional licences, for example, and the product from those is coming on stream.”

Canopy Growth Corp. CEO Bruce Linton said the licensed producer expects by next Friday to have shipped to all provinces and territories 100 per cent of the volumes it had committed to over the next 30 days, but within 10 days of legalization.

He noted that the cannabis grower in these supply agreements signed on to deliver a certain quantity over a year, and that order specifics did not become clear until roughly two weeks ago.

Linton added that was difficult for all parties to gauge demand for a product that has been banned from recreational use for so long, he added.

“There is mega demand… This is the end of prohibition in a fashion that is absolutely, globally unequalled,” Linton said.

https://business.financialpost.com/...hort-of-supply-on-second-day-of-legal-pot/amp

 

[Andy Capp]

Cannabis retailers, governments warn of lingering supply shortage
BY THE CANADIAN PRESS | OCT 18, 2018

Demand for newly legal pot appears to be outstripping supply on the second day of legalization as retailers ran low on some products or were cleaned out completely, manifestations of a shortfall that some provinces warned could last for months.

Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries said Thursday that it is expecting product shortages in both brick-and-mortar and online stores could last “up to at least six months.”

“Every province — not just Manitoba — is receiving substantially less cannabis than originally requested… Retailers in Manitoba will be receiving staggered shipments over the next few weeks (some daily) in an effort to meet their requests,” said a spokeswoman for the Manitoba crown corporation in an email.

A B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch spokeswoman said that “shortages are/were expected to impact all jurisdictions across Canada as some (licensed producers) look to opportunities in overseas markets.”

Four of the largest licensed producers indicated to B.C. earlier this month they would not ship their full product commitment in time for the launch of online sales and the province’s lone store, she added.

“LPs point to a number of factors in reduced product volume and assortment including issues with supply chain, lower than expected crop yields, and insufficient supply of packaging materials,” the spokeswoman said in an email.

Retailers saw long lineups and a wave of online purchases Wednesday as Canadians rushed to make their first-ever purchase of legal recreational pot and witness the historic moment.

Cannabis industry players and watchers had earlier warned that there would be product shortages amid supply chain issues, but the actual appetite of Canadian consumers for legal pot was unclear until the day it became legal.

By most accounts from provinces that did provide figures, demand was high.

On the first day of legalization in Canada, Quebec’s crown cannabis corporation had recorded more than 12,500 in-store transactions and 30,000 online orders, which “far exceeds” its expectations.

The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation said it conducted 12,810 transactions totalling more than $660,000 in sales, of which almost $47,000 were online, a spokeswoman said. In Prince Edward Island, total sales on the first day was more than $152,000 after tax, nearly $21,000 of which was online.

In Alberta, where private retailers handle in-store sales, the government-run website processed 8,300 orders as of 3:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday, worth approximately $730,000, a spokeswoman for the province’s gaming, liquor and cannabis commission.

The online-only Ontario Cannabis Store would not release specific numbers, but spokesman Daffyd Roderick said “the response to cannabis legalization has resulted in a high volume of orders.” Online delivery will now take as long as five days, as opposed to the earlier timeline of one to three days, due to the volume of orders in the first 24 hours, he added. Ontario Premier Doug Ford had said on Wednesday morning that OCS.ca had handled 38,000 orders since its midnight launch.

A B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch spokeswoman said it handled about 9,100 orders online in the first 24 hours and 800 transactions at its brick-and-mortar store in Kamloops in the first day.

“The first day of recreational sales in Canada appears to have been a success highlighted by the long lines and enthusiasm from shoppers,” said GMP Securities analyst Martin Landry, after his research team visited retail stores in four different provinces to take the pulse of shoppers.

After surveying 100 customers, Landry and his team found that customers on average bought $80 to $90 worth of cannabis, with variations between provinces. Eastern Canada consumers had a basket size of between $60 and $70, but in Quebec and Alberta it was $90 and $100, respectively, he said in a note to clients.

“Seeing cannabis shoppers wait in lines as opposed to take the traditional easy illegal supply route is refreshing and bodes well for the recreational market in Canada,” he said.

The lines stretched into the hundreds at some retail locations across the country on Wednesday, and some provinces said they saw shorter queues on Thursday.

Still, the country-wide supply crunch continued to make it difficult for cannabis retailers to meet existing demand.

The Quebec Cannabis Corp. said Thursday that some items are unavailable on its website and it expects further product shortages — particularly oil, capsules, atomizers and pre-rolled joints — going forward.

“Given the craze created by the legalization of cannabis and the scarcity of products across Canada, the (corporation) expects significant short-term supply challenges,” it said in a statement on Thursday.

Alberta and Prince Edward Island also said Thursday certain products have sold out online, and Nova Scotia said it ran out of certain strains.

Private retailer Thomas Clarke in Newfoundland and Labrador said he is continuing to turn away customers at his store in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s after completely selling out of product Wednesday.

Chief executive of retailer Fire and Flower, Trevor Fencott, said its five stores in Alberta and Saskatchewan are fully stocked but it won’t launch its online store for Saskatchewan until it receives more supply.

Consumers going to British Columbia’s website on Wednesday were told that several strains of marijuana were sold out and B.C.’s only retail location in Kamloops ran out of one variety of dried cannabis.

The province’s Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said Thursday he wasn’t concerned the province would run out of legal marijuana in the first days of legalization.

Farnworth said new supplies will arrive as other strains of pot sell out.

“This is an agriculture product, so we’ll get some varieties coming in soon and others may take a little while to put in place,” he said. “As we know the federal government has put in place additional licences, for example, and the product from those is coming on stream.”

Canopy Growth Corp. CEO Bruce Linton said the licensed producer expects by next Friday to have shipped to all provinces and territories 100 per cent of the volumes it had committed to over the next 30 days, but within 10 days of legalization.

He noted that the cannabis grower in these supply agreements signed on to deliver a certain quantity over a year, and that order specifics did not become clear until roughly two weeks ago.

Linton added that was difficult for all parties to gauge demand for a product that has been banned from recreational use for so long, he added.

“There is mega demand… This is the end of prohibition in a fashion that is absolutely, globally unequalled,” Linton said.

https://business.financialpost.com/...hort-of-supply-on-second-day-of-legal-pot/amp

First of all, thanks for the info. That's very disappointing. There have been months of pent-up demand. I would have expected a hyuuuge build up in supply before the due date. Well, I guess things are a little unpredictable when you have to wait for them to grow.

 

[Arkain2K]

 

[Arkain2K]

 

[Arkain2K]

 

[Arkain2K]

Canada-wide cannabis shortages could last years, producers warn
By Aly Thomson , The Canadian Press | November 14, 2018

The supply shortages that have plagued many provinces in the first month of legal cannabis will likely persist for years, industry insiders say.

Provinces including British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have all reported varying degrees of shortages.

New Brunswick was forced to temporarily close more than half its stores, while the Quebec Cannabis Corporation has reduced its store opening hours to four days a week. Labrador’s only legal cannabis store said it was forced to temporarily close after being without any product for nearly two weeks.

Khurram Malik, CEO of the Toronto-based cannabis company Biome Grow Inc., said the lack of supply is due in part to the tough regulations imposed by Health Canada on the country’s 132 licensed producers, and the time required by companies to develop a quality and compliant product.

He said the federal department also took too long to approve licences.

“The rules here are so difficult to grow cannabis — quite frankly more difficult than anywhere else in the world — that if you’re a new licence holder and you’ve never done this before, it’s going to take you a year, year-and-a-half, or two years to get any decent, consistent quality product out the door in any predictable volumes,” said Malik, adding it’s much easier and cheaper to grow in jurisdictions such as California.

“The good thing with that is, yes, it makes things difficult domestically, but the rest of the world looks at us as outright experts in this. They say if you can grow in Canada, you can grow anywhere.”

Malik said he suspects some companies did stockpile cannabis leading up to Oct. 17, but logistics such as packaging and shipping have held up distribution as producers navigate the red tape of a brand new sector.

“There may be empty store shelves right now in various provinces, but there’s product sitting in vaults ready to move.

“That will clean itself out in the coming weeks,” said Malik, whose company has facilities under development in Ontario and Atlantic Canada.

“Once that’s out of the way, then you’re going to have intermittent shortages throughout 2019 and into 2020 as people produce and ship right away.”

Health Canada said it has taken steps to improve the licensing and capacity of producers, including increasing approved production capacity from 185,000 square metres to more than 1.2 million square metres since May 2017.

The department declined a request for an interview. But a statement from spokeswoman Tammy Jarbeau acknowledged that product shortages would likely continue “in the months ahead.”

“As with any new industry where there is considerable consumer demand, we expect there may be periods where inventories of some products run low or, in some cases, run out,” said Jarbeau in an email.

“Health Canada remains confident that there is sufficient supply of cannabis overall to meet market demand now and into the future.”

The department said given the long-standing prohibition of cannabis, there were no established benchmarks to precisely estimate demand levels, or to determine which products would be in high demand.

“As the overall supply chain gains experience in the Canadian marketplace, it is expected that such localized and product-specific shortages will become far fewer in number,” she said.

Brenda and Trevor Tobin, the mother-and-son owners of Labrador City’s High North, said demand at the store currently far outweighs the available supply.

The shop sold all of its cannabis in the first three hours on legalization day, and in the weeks following, products dried up for almost two weeks.

Brenda Tobin said she continues to sell product faster than producers are able to deliver it. She said that has prompted some of her customers to buy cannabis illegally.

“A lot of them have said, ‘Well I guess it’s back to the black market’,” said Tobin. “We hate to hear that, but I’m assuming if they want their product, they’re going to get it one way or the other.”

She said product availability has also been restricted as producers send lists of available products, rather than the shop being able to request certain products, she said.

Authorities in B.C. and Alberta said licensed producers have not been able to deliver on the volumes they had originally committed to, but neither province provided specifics.

“While we forecasted and planned for this level of demand, we did not anticipate the supply challenges,” said Heather Holmen, manager of communications for Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis.

“The shortage of product is a Canada-wide challenge.”

The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation said it received less than 40 per cent of the product it ordered from 14 licensed producers in August, but was able to bring in inventory from a P.E.I. producer days before legalization to help address the shortage.

The shortages meant that three Nova Scotia cannabis stores closed early a few hours early on three occasions during the first week of legalization. There have not been any closures since then.

Cannabis NB said it received 20 to 30 per cent of its order for legalization day. It said 12 of the province’s 20 stores were forced to temporarily close in the last few weeks, but have all since reopened.

“Temporary closures are sometimes required to allow for new inventory to arrive,” Cannabis NB said in an email. “We expect supply levels to eventually normalize, however, the demand is consistent, and supply is a challenge.”

Meanwhile in Ontario — where its online store is the only way to legally purchase recreational cannabis until brick-and-mortar stores are put in place next year — the provincial ombudsman has received more than 1,000 complaints related to delivery delays, poor customer service and issues with billing.

Ontario Finance Minister Vic Fedeli said this week that the online Ontario Cannabis Store was returning to its original delivery time of one to three days, after receiving 200,000 orders since Oct. 17.

Ray Gracewood, chief commercial officer for the New Brunswick-based OrganiGram, said cannabis companies knew it would be a challenge to fulfil the demand during the first few months following legalization, and a shortage was inevitable as producers play catch-up.

“There’s a huge novelty factor and I think it probably has really captured the imagination of Canadians in general,” said Gracewood. “It’s a validation that Canadian consumers are willing to embrace regulated and legalized product.”

Gracewood said Canadian consumers have a whole new world of cannabis products to look forward to, and he expects producers will start developing product niches.

Ottawa has said it is aiming to make edibles containing cannabis and cannabis concentrates legal by next October.

https://globalnews.ca/news/4662574/legal-marijuana-canada-shortage-cannabis-producers/

 

[Scrody]

Canada managing to come up short yet again.

 

[JonesBones]

Good thing dozens of shady Canadian weed companies have gone public and created a bubble. This is the next/current bubble. Look up companies like Tilray. Scam.


Citron Research's Andrew left reiterated his bet against the Canadian cannabis industry Wendesday, telling CNBC that he's short Canopy Growth and Cronos Group in addition to his already disclosed wager against Tilray.



"I'm also short Cronos, I'm short Canopy, I'm short Tilray. So I'm short a basket of the names," he said. "Once the U.S. licensed producers come on — the faster it becomes legal in the U.S., the quicker the Canada names go lower."

"They won't get the exposure in the U.S., they're not players internationally," Left added. "I don't care how many press releases they put out, they're not going to be shipping cannabis from Canada to Australia. Not happening."
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/14/cit...ames-canopy-and-cronos-as-well-as-tilray.html



Short Canadian weed .

 

[Arkain2K]

Cannabis edibles expected to hit Canadian shelves mid-December
By Staff The Canadian Press | June 14, 2019

​

A “limited selection” of next-generation cannabis products such as edibles will “gradually” hit retail shelves no earlier than mid-December 2019, Health Canada says.

The Ottawa-based agency on Friday released details of the final version of its regulations governing these pot products, including topicals and extracts, and indicated the rules will come into force on Oct. 17.

However, Health Canada noted that after the law takes effect, federal cannabis licence holders must provide 60 days notice to Health Canada of their intent to sell new products.

That means that these new pot products won’t be available for legal sale until Dec. 17 at the earliest.

“As with any new regulatory framework, federally licensed processors will need time to become familiar with and prepare to comply with the new rules and to produce new products,” Health Canada said in a statement.

“Provincially or territorially authorized distributors and retailers will also need time to purchase and obtain the new products and make them available for sale.”

A recent report by Deloitte estimated the Canadian market for these pot products is worth about $2.7 billion annually, with edibles contributing more than half of that amount.

Health Canada in February wrapped its public consultation on the draft rules for these additional cannabis products.

The final rules dictate that edible cannabis, whether food or beverage, will have a cap of 10 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol — the compound known as THC which produces a high — per package, consistent with the proposed regulations. Cannabis extracts for inhalation or topicals, such as pot-infused lotions, will have a cap of 1,000 milligrams of THC per package, also in line with the draft rules.

All packaging must be plain and child resistant, and must not be appealing to young people.

https://globalnews.ca/news/5391103/cannabis-edibles-stores-mid-december/

 

[Madmick]

*Sigh*

Edibles are dangerous. This is not a joke.