Here's why the cannabis market in Toronto is facing chronic growing pains
Toronto has more than 400 legal cannabis retailers, but an industry that was once experiencing a “green rush” is now finding itself amidst chronic struggles.
“Right now it’s just being run and decisions are being made without involving retailers and without really making decisions in alignment with us, and that’s I think a huge failure in the market right now,” said Vivianne Wilson, founder of GreenPort Cannabis on College St. in Toronto’s Little Italy.
Wilson says there ought to be a third party to regulate and advocate for retailers and producers dealing with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), which regulates retail licenses, and the Ontario Cannabis Store, which is the only legal wholesale supplier to retailers.
The federal government is reviewing the Cannabis Act, which outlined the legalization of marijuana in Canada. It also downloaded many regulations around supply and consumption to the provinces.
In Ontario, it is the AGCO that oversees handing out licenses. In the beginning, a lottery system limited the number of retailers, but store owners and managers tell CTV News Toronto there are now no protections from having several shops open in the same area, so long as they remain over 250 meters from a school.
“We knew there would be over-saturation,” Wilson said, and that was articulated to the AGCO.
Now there are fears many of the stores that have opened will close, with about a third of cannabis sales remaining in the illegal market, Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Thursday in announcing the legislative review.
A lawyer who has represented legal pot shop retailers says she has received several calls from Toronto retailers being undercut by the black market.
“There are people who have joined the legal market in good faith and got the licences to become retailers and yet they sometimes find themselves situated beside an illegal pot shop, that is doing better business than them and often probably selling better products,” Kendra Stanyon said.
A major problem the barrister says is what she called a “chokehold” on the products available, such as with edible cannabis, where smaller producers that wanted to be part of the legal market have been left out.
The review of the Cannabis Act, according to a summary paper, will focus “on aspects of the framework within areas of federal jurisdiction.”
That won’t help many in the business, Wilson said.
“This review of the cannabis act at a federal level is not going to change what they’re doing at a provincial level, so we’re going to continue to see stores close, unfortunately,” she surmised.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From AI running wild to collapsing ecosystems, government report outlines future disruptions
From collapsing ecosystems to artificial intelligence running wild, a new Canadian government report outlines 35 disruptions that could rattle the country in the coming years.
B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton hospitalized after prison attack
British Columbia serial killer Robert Pickton was attacked and sustained life-threatening injuries in a Quebec prison Sunday in what officials described as a 'major assault.'
opinion Tom Mulcair: With Trudeau spiralling, Mark Carney waits in the wings
In his latest column for CTVNews.ca, former NDP leader Tom Mulcair argues that if there's an unofficial frontrunner in the eventual race to replace Justin Trudeau as Liberal leader, it has to be former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney.
Toronto Blue Jays fan struck by 110 m.p.h foul ball offered tickets, signed baseball by team
The Toronto Blue Jays have offered tickets and a signed baseball to a fan who says she was struck in the face by a 110 m.p.h (177 km/h) foul ball at Friday’s game.
Matthew Perry's death is being investigated over ketamine level found in actor's blood, reports say
An investigation has been opened into the death of Matthew Perry and how the “Friends” actor received the anesthetic ketamine, which was ruled a contributing factor in his death.
OPP continues to investigate boat collision north of Kingston, Ont. that left 3 people dead
Ontario Provincial Police continue to investigate a long weekend fatal boat collision on Bobs Lake, north of Kingston, Ont.
Police in Ontario say suspects charged in armed home invasion near Toronto part of 'larger criminal network'
Police in Ontario say a group of suspects charged in an armed home invasion north of Toronto last year were driving a vehicle stolen in a carjacking in Calgary just one month earlier.
Air turbulence: When can it become dangerous?
Flight turbulence like that encountered by a Singapore Airlines flight on Tuesday is extremely common, but there's one aspect of severe turbulence an aviation expert says can lead to serious injury.
Orphan orca's extended family spotted off northeast side of Vancouver Island
Members of a killer whale pod related to an orphan orca calf that escaped a remote British Columbia tidal lagoon last month have been spotted off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island.