It is without a doubt that 2018 is a year that will go in the books for cannabis. While many places are still facing prohibition around the world this year several countries, as well as additional States throughout the United States, welcomed positive reform regarding their cannabis-related laws. This year via the 2018 Farmville we also saw Industrial Hemp become legal once again in the United States for the first time since 1937.
The Canadian News That Had Us All Blazing
One of the most Monumental moments this year in the Cannabis movement, however, happened in Canada. In October of 2018, the country became the very first G7 nation in the world to legalize recreational adult use cannabis nationwide. This has given adults the ability to freely enjoy this plant without fear of prosecution. It has also been very lucrative based upon a recent report from Statistics Canada.
The Numerical Details
In a recent monthly retail trade data release for the month of October from Statistics Canada, we saw the first numbers regarding cannabis sales in the country when it comes to the Retail Market. This report concludes that within the first 2 weeks of adult recreational sales of cannabis in the country there was 43 million dollars’ worth of product purchased.
These are some rather impressive numbers considering there have been widespread shortages of product as well as multiple recalls within the market. To dig into the 43 million dollars and sales a bit further Statistics Canada provided a breakdown per province. Below you can see a broke-down per province regarding retail cannabis sales between October 17th and October 31st.
The Breakdown
- Ontario $11.7 million
- Quebec $10.8 million
- Alberta $5.6 million
- Nova Scotia $4.5 million
- British Columbia $2.3 million
- New Brunswick $2.2 million
- Newfoundland and Labrador $1.7 million
- Prince Edward Island $$1.3 million
- Saskatchewan $341,000
One of the most impressive takes from the statistics is that the highest amount of cannabis sales on the first day of legalization took place in the two provinces with the lowest per person capita.
The government also recently released proposals for edible cannabis regulations in the country. It will be interesting to see how these numbers look a few months down the road. Stay tuned here as you can be sure that we will be Bank close attention to the Canadian retail cannabis market.
