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Canadian Cannabis News

macbill

Oh No! Mr macbill!!
Staff member

macbill

Oh No! Mr macbill!!
Staff member

bulllee

Agent Provocateur
Canada’s recreational marijuana sales grow to record CA$231 million
Published September 18, 2020 | By Solomon Israel



Retail sales of adult-use cannabis in Canada grew yet again in July, increasing by 15.2% over June’s record to another high of 231.6 million Canadian dollars ($175.6 million).

The July sales imply an annual Canadian marijuana market worth nearly CA$2.8 billion.




Monthly sales of regulated recreational cannabis increased across all Canadian provinces, Statistics Canada reported Friday.


Ontario, the largest province by population, saw monthly sales increase by 23.5% to CA$60.3 million.

The growth came after Ontario’s cannabis store license count surpassed 100 in June, a start to addressing the province’s deficiency in cannabis retail outlets.

Steven Fry, co-founder and CEO of Sessions Cannabis, has opened five retail locations in Ontario so far and plans to open 27 more by April 2021.

Two new Sessions locations opened in Ontario in July, and Fry said both experienced significant weekly sales growth.

“I think you’ll see that (growth) trend continue,” he said, adding that brick-and-mortar stores have proved far more popular than online sales in Ontario.

“People really want to go in brick-and-mortar stores, they want to engage with staff, they want to learn about the products, they want to have that convenience available to them,” said Fry.

“I think as more and more stores open up, you’ll see those numbers increase even further in the market here.”

Alberta, which has far more cannabis stores per capita than any other province, once again beat out the more populous provinces of Quebec and British Columbia with July sales of CA$51.8 million, a 10.9% monthly increase.

Recreational cannabis sales in Quebec, which has relatively few stores, grew by 9.8% on a monthly basis to CA$43.9 million.

In British Columbia, sales reached CA$34.6 million, a 17.6% monthly increase.

Manitoba sales increased 10.8% over June to CA$9.1 million, while Saskatchewan recorded the smallest monthly growth, 6.8%, to CA$11.9 million.

In eastern Canada, July retail sales were:

  • New Brunswick: CA$6.4 million (+20.9%).
  • Newfoundland: CA$4.1 million (+25.3%).
  • Nova Scotia: CA$6.9 million (+12.2%).
  • Prince Edward Island: CA$1.5 million (+35.3%).
Statistics Canada’s release of August retail trade figures is scheduled for Oct. 21.
 

bulllee

Agent Provocateur

Canada’s race for low-cost legal marijuana reaches derivative ‘Cannabis 2.0’ products​

Published 9 hours ago | By Solomon Israel



Low-priced cannabis has changed the face of Canada’s regulated marijuana industry over the past year, with many producers launching value flower brands at competitive prices.

Now, that low-cost trend is arriving for marijuana-derivative products, including vape cartridges and edibles. (Such products are sometimes called “Cannabis 2.0” in Canada because of the second set of federal regulations that enabled them.)




Competition is increasing, average prices have fallen and some producers are extending their value-flower strategies to the derivative segment.


That could bode well for attempts to capture market share away from the illicit market, but it might also signal tighter margins for some producers.

Like dried flower, many of those derivative products carried relatively high price tags when they launched around the new year.

But point-of-sales data from Seattle-based cannabis market intelligence firm Headset shows that the average per-gram price of vape products has declined this year across three key markets:

  • In British Columbia, from 114.57 Canadian dollars ($87.21) in January to CA$95.84 ($72.95) in August
  • In Alberta, from CA$138.64 in February to CA$80.88 in October
  • In Ontario, from CA$118.45 in January to CA$104.92 in August, not including the government-operated Ontario Cannabis Store.
The price of edibles on a THC-per-milligram basis has also declined year-to-date in Alberta and Ontario, although the cost has increased slightly in B.C.

Owen Bennett, tobacco and cannabis analyst for New York-based Jefferies, said the shift to value in the flower segment happened only after competition picked up.

“I think you’ll see a similar thing now in derivatives, as more and more products come available, and more and more better-quality products, then that will force a shift into value similar to what you saw in flower,” he said.

New competition and price normalization

Delta, British Columbia-based Pure Sunfarms recently launched three new vape-cartridge SKUs in Ontario, B.C. and Alberta – Canada’s first-, third- and fourth-largest provinces by population, respectively. (Quebec, the second-biggest province by population, has banned vapes.)

The greenhouse producer had already established a reputation for low-cost products, and its vape products are no exception: On the Ontario Cannabis Store website, the 0.5-gram cartridges sell for CA$6.59 per 0.1 gram, less than almost every other competitor.

Pure Sunfarms CEO Mandesh Dosanjh believes the company’s vapes, which contain a winterized full-spectrum extraction rather than distillate, are the lowest-cost, full-spectrum vape available in Canada’s licit market.

Even though Pure Sunfarms’ flower and vape products compete against other producers’ value brands on price, Dosanjh said he hates “getting lumped in as a value brand, but I understand it.”

The company’s philosophy for its single adult-use brand is simply pricing quality cannabis appropriately, he said.

“We never wanted to go in and be seen as this company that is trying to gouge consumers and having to drop prices quickly because there’s more competition coming out,” Dosanjh said.

“We wanted to say to customers, ‘Great product at the prices it should be,'” he added. “And I think that philosophy helps us build trust and confidence with customers, whether they’re retail operators or end consumers.”

He characterized the race toward more affordable cannabis in Canada as part of a process of price normalization in the face of new competition.

Before legalization, Dosanjh continued, illicit-market customers who paid premium prices were used to getting premium products.

“When we launched our products, it definitely caused disruption in the marketplace, and I think it woke people up to the fact that, ‘Oh wow, these guys are going to produce that high-quality product at that price point – we really need to rethink our strategy because our products can’t compete with these guys, especially not when we’re charging 30%, 40% more price.'”

Value-priced edibles, new value flower brands

This summer, Moncton, New Brunswick-based producer Organigram launched its first value-priced cannabis edible, a flavored “Trailblazer Snax” chocolate bar containing 10 milligrams of THC.

CEO Greg Engel said the product is targeted for value-conscious consumers, with a focus on affordable pricing and a large size.

“We’ve had a long-standing relationship with The Green Solution in Colorado, so we look at their data and we can see what’s happening from a trend perspective, and we know there’s a broad range there and different consumers are looking for different product types,” he said.

Organigram also has plans for further value-priced derivative products, according to Engel.

“One of the things we’re looking to do in the future is to go to a larger size 510 (vape) cartridge to provide more value in that category,” he said.

Meanwhile, Organigram’s flower portfolio now includes three different value brands, including a new pre-milled discount flower product called “Shred.”

Engel described each of Organigram’s value-flower brands as offering a distinct proposition, based on market research.

But he also said the company has launched new, high-THC offerings under its premium “Edison” brand and highlighted the importance of having a full slate of product offerings.

“You can’t just go all in and (say), ‘We’re only a value company,'” Engel said.

“You have to have a range of products.”

The potential pitfalls of value brands

Going too far down the path of value brands carries risks, as Edmonton, Alberta-based Aurora Cannabis learned this year after launching its “Daily Special,” a value-priced flower product.

Aurora sold more cannabis by volume during the fourth quarter, but revenue declined as the budget brand grew to encompass 62% of the company’s net revenues from dried cannabis and its average selling price shrank.

In response, Aurora announced it was repositioning its brand portfolio to focus on higher-margin premium brands.

Aurora’s mistake wasn’t moving into the value segment, according to Bennett, the Jefferies analyst.

“It was almost like they saw it was having a bit of success and threw everything behind it and didn’t think about the long-term consequences,” he said.

Producers need to take care to manage their brand portfolios strategically, ensuring that their value market share is appropriate for their sales targets, Bennett added.

Bennett expects producers of discount cannabis will ultimately run up against a new roadblock at the country’s growing number of retail stores.

“They obviously want to stock the higher-margin products. … They’re not going to stock every discount brand on the market, so what they’re going to do is probably pick one or two,” he said.

“And therefore I think a lot of these discount brands may start to struggle to get shelf space, and therefore, that could raise problems for companies that are largely reliant on discount right now.”
 

ginolicious

Well-Known Member
Retail sales were very high this time around due to the pandemic. Prettt funny. Personally I don’t like the LP weed. Yet to have something of true quality and not be gouged.
 

bulllee

Agent Provocateur
NEWS BRIEF

Alberta lifting retail cannabis store cap in November​

Published 21 hours ago


Alberta’s government is lifting the cap on the number of retail cannabis store licenses that can be held by a single person or group of people.




Currently, a person or a group can hold no more than 15% of the total number of retail stores in the province.


With 528 marijuana store licenses issued in Alberta as of Friday, the cap means a single owner could not have more than 79 licenses.

The 15% limit will be lifted on Nov. 1.

The cap was originally “intended to allow smaller players to enter the market,” Heather Holmen, a spokeswoman for provincial cannabis retail regulator Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC), wrote in an emailed statement.

“Now, with more than 500 licensed retail locations province wide – and more than any other jurisdiction in Canada – the decision was made to lift the 15% (limit),” she wrote.

The move is part of an Alberta government strategy to reduce red tape and create new business opportunities, Holmen added.

“This change helps cannabis retailers promote a healthy retail trade that can compete with the illicit market on price, which helps protect Albertans.”

Alberta’s competitive adult-use marijuana market has far more cannabis stores per capita than any other jurisdiction in Canada.

Retailers with significant numbers of licenses in the province include:

  • Canopy Growth.
  • Choom Holdings.
  • Fire & Flower Holdings.
  • Four20.
  • High Tide.
  • NewLeaf Cannabis.
  • Nova Cannabis.
  • Plantlife Canada.
  • Spiritleaf.
  • YSS.
 
bulllee,

bulllee

Agent Provocateur

Shoppers Drug Mart seeks cannabis sales in pharmacies: Q&A with exec Ken Weisbrod​

Published October 27, 2020 | By Matt Lamers


Ken-Weisbrod-intl-min-300x200.jpg

Medical cannabis products in Canada should be dispensed to patients inside pharmacies – a natural progression for the sector that would lead to improved practitioner oversight, according to the point person for medical marijuana at Shoppers Drug Mart, the largest pharmacy chain in the country.

Ken Weisbrod, the outgoing vice president of business development/cannabis strategy, noted that Canada stands alone by excluding pharmacies from medical cannabis distribution.

Health Canada oversees medical marijuana sales through online customer purchases and mail delivery of the products, in addition to issuing personal and designated personal licenses. Shoppers has an online system of its own.




“Pharmacy is a natural progression,” Weisbrod told Marijuana Business Daily in an interview.


“You need medical practitioner oversight,” added Weisbrod, who is leaving Shoppers at the end of the year.

“The accessibility issue is really about pharmacies. Treat it like a medicine. In pharmacies, you can bring that clinical oversight for patients consuming it for health.”

Weisbrod confirmed he is leaving Shoppers later this year, as first reported by Business of Cannabis.

Shoppers has teamed with University Health Network (UHN) – which encompasses a number of hospitals in Canada – to launch the Medical Cannabis Real World Evidence study.

The study, which will have a maximum of 2,000 patients in its first phase, is intended to match cannabis genetics that have known cannabinoid and terpene profiles to patient outcomes.

Shoppers has more than two dozen vendors supplying cannabis products, which the company provides to its patients via its online portal.

The company does not cultivate cannabis but does operate a distribution center in Toronto.

MJBizDaily spoke with Weisbrod about the future of Canada’s medical cannabis industry.

What’s the status of the trial with UHN?

We’re live. We’ve got a real-world evidence study going. We’re watching (patients’) use of the cannabis products, their outcomes, and looking at sleeping disorders, anxiety, neuropathic pain.

We’ve created a separate portal where physicians can go in, and the data is rendered by TruTrace into a back-end system where a doctor can look at a very robust monograph, if you like, of the cannabis, understand its chemistry makeup, understand where it came from and then (choose) what’s appropriate for patients based on whatever is important to the clinician.

There’s a series of mechanisms in the study to get feedback from patients we track to understand which products are working, potentially which aren’t working and if they’re interacting with other (prescriptions).

It’s a robust amount of data.

What are you looking for in medical cannabis suppliers?

We’ve got great processes by Health Canada. We go in with that framework, which is fantastic to have in terms of safety. But we then put in more due diligence.

It’s more pharmaceutically orientated.

We want to ensure they have capability to cultivate properly.

We spend a lot of time understanding the role of cannabis and where it’s going and how it’s manufactured to ensure that we’re getting the best-quality products for our patients.

You need to really understand how the back end of the industry works in order to ensure you’re getting the best product.

How will more doctors become comfortable authorizing medical cannabis?

What’s unique about the real-world evidence study is you’re now looking at cannabis products and tracking patient outcomes.

You’ve got a study now of consistent, transparent product, and you’re able to actually see how a patient is getting a benefit, or not, from certain products.

That is very unique, and we’re probably one of the first in the world to do that, because we provide a database of products that are transparent.

Quite frankly, there are thousands of doctors who have sat on the fence on cannabis, and this (study with UHN) is a way to show product transparency.

Here’s a way to get a robust monograph of products and feel comfortable that there is a level of standardization.

The other part of this project is getting other doctors involved who have considered it but weren’t ready to make that move.

What’s in it for the cannabis producers besides revenue?

There are some very similar products out there: Is it really different? What really makes the product unique?

This is a way for them to get into studies.

You provide a consistent product over a period of time and track their outcomes. That’s the way you actually put claims to these cannabis products, as opposed to anecdotal evidence.

We have a lot of LPs (licensed producers) who want to be part of this system now, because they’re going to be able to get outcomes.

At UHN, there was a huge protocol that was developed for this study, and part of that is using standard indices to track patient outcomes on specific drugs.

Should cannabis be dispensed in pharmacies?

Medical cannabis dispensed through licensed producers is dispensed in isolation.

The most important aspect of the pharmacy equation is getting the pharmacists the other drugs (patients) are consuming for other conditions.

Cannabis is a drug that requires oversight, especially when you’re consuming other meds.

If you’re consuming for neuropathic pain and insomnia, and you’re taking other drugs for that, it’s interacting and no one really knows what’s going on.

A pharmacy would alleviate all of those issues.
 
bulllee,

ginolicious

Well-Known Member
Everything needs over sight. Going to the quote above where he says consuming cannabis with other medications needs over sight. That’s with any medication. You shouldn’t drink alcohol when taking certain meds. You shouldn’t take other meds with other kinds of meds. Hence why doctors always ask if you are on anything else as there could be a negative effect.

I wrote a legal paper for law school back in 2011. And one of my suggestions for legalizing pot was to sell it in shoppers or government regulated stores. Now looking at how it turned out, don’t think that was that bad of an idea. It’s more shitty on who can grow to sell it. A lot of the weed that is grown isn’t that good or worth the price it is sold for.
 
ginolicious,

C No Ego

Well-Known Member
so @bulllee moral is - doctors need to know only in relation to the pharma meds that the cannabis user is using as well as cannabis ... with cannabis as a stand alone medication the doctors are then not really needed ...
 
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macbill

Oh No! Mr macbill!!
Staff member

Canopy Growth shuttering facilities across Canada, abandons outdoor marijuana cultivation

Cannabis producer Canopy Growth is shuttering more facilities across Canada amid a fresh round of layoffs in an effort to streamline operations and improve margins, the struggling company announced Wednesday.

The cuts come amid a broad supply-demand imbalance in the Canadian cannabis industry. The glut has resulted in a mountain of cannabis inventory – both unpackaged and packaged – sitting in warehouses.
 

hans solo

Left coast Canada
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Tranquility

Well-Known Member
(Cue Canadian "Reefer Madness" music)

Cannabis legalization and link to increase in fatal collisions
"Analyses of data suggest that legalization of recreational cannabis in United States jurisdictions may be associated with a small but significant increase in fatal motor vehicle collisions and fatalities, which, if extrapolated to the Canadian context, could result in as many as 308 additional driving fatalities annually,"
 
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BKR2311

Well-Known Member
Fuck Canopy! Lost more than I care to admit on this one...
You only "lose" if you sell, and if you sold before federal legalization process even started....then you probably shouldn't have bought it in the first place.
 
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