Calgary Police say they have found and charged a man involved in several cannabis store robberies in recent months in the city.
Police arrested the man in the early hours of Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, shortly after he had robbed a Circle K convenience store with a firearm at 1919 Sirocco Dr. SW. Once he was arrested, police discovered he was the same man believed to be connected with a series of seven cannabis store and liquor robberies this past summer.
Calgary Police released details about the suspect in September, asking for help from the public in identifying the man, who often wore different outfits or disguises.
As a result, Calgary Police have charged 39-year-old Collin Kizza MUKASA with:
One count of robbery
Five counts of robbery with a firearm
Four counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose
Four counts of failure to comply with a release order
Eight counts of breach of a firearm prohibition
The man remains in custody and will next appear in court on Wednesday, December 4, 2024.
The Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) recorded a new record for net revenue in its second quarterly report for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
The provincial cannabis agency’s total sales were $173.7 million in Q2, 34,675 kg of cannabis, up from $151.7 million from 27,498 kg in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year, an increase of 26%. This resulted in net and overall sales of $29.4 million compared to $24.9 million for the same quarter of the previous fiscal year, a nearly 15% increase from Q2 2023.
The SQDC documented 4.4 million transactions in the most recent quarter, compared to 3.6 million for the same quarter in the 2023-2024 fiscal year, at an average selling price of $5.76 per gram, all taxes included, for all cannabis products combined.
This is down from the average selling price of $6.34 per gram in Q2 2023, which the SQDC attributes to a growing demand for low-cost products and concentrate-type products that it says have a lower average selling price per gram than other product categories.
The SQDC opened two new locations in the most recent quarter, the Donnacona branch and its hundredth branch in Richelieu in Montérégie. The SQDC has not added many stores in the last few years, with the agency saying it is focussing more on refining the consumer experience in its stores rather than constant expansion.
In a recent interview with StratCann, SQDC president and CEO Suzanne Bergeron says the organization has spent the first six years of legalization gathering consumer data to better meet consumer needs, even within the sometimes strict confines of Quebec’s rules that ban many edibles, concentrates, and vape products.
“We’re starting to get a good amount of data on consumer preferences, what they like and dislike, [as well as] what keeps them in the illicit market vs coming into the SQDC,” she said. “Knowing that, we’re able to refine the strategy on how we’re going to adapt our stores so when they come in they feel welcome.”
The provincial government brought in $43.9 million in its share of cannabis taxes, while another $17.5 million went to the federal government. Cannabis sales in Quebec provided the provincial government with $73.3 million in revenue. The province says it reinvests these profits into prevention and research into cannabis.
Net sales in the most recent quarter were also up by one million from the previous quarter when the Société québécoise du cannabis brought in $23.9 million in net sales from $162.9 million in sales.
David Heldreth, CEO and founder of Panacea Plant Sciences, has filed a federal court lawsuit, claiming the DEA breached several legal protocols in preparing for a hearing on the Biden administration’s proposal to reclassify marijuana. The suit urges the court to issue an injunction halting the DEA’s scheduled hearing until these legal concerns are addressed.
Heldreth’s complaint argues that the DEA has not complied with important legal requirements related to administrative procedures and federal consultation obligations. At the core of his argument is the agency’s decision to hold a hearing on moving marijuana from Schedule 1 to 3 of the CSA, which he contends lacks necessary adherence to federal guidelines.
The initial hearing is slated for Dec. 2, following a period of public comment that ended several months ago. While numerous groups requested participation in the hearing, DEA director Anne Milgram selected only 25, excluding Panacea. Heldreth claims that this exclusion was unwarranted and appears to be a retaliatory move by the DEA. He argues that Panacea’s prior opposition to the DEA’s regulatory moves on psychedelic substances may have led to this exclusion, framing it as a response to the company’s stance on various drug policy issues.
In his legal filing, Heldreth highlights four primary grounds for requesting a stay on the DEA’s proceedings. One key argument is that the DEA failed to follow a 1990s executive order mandating federal agencies to consult with tribal organizations when developing policies or regulations that could impact their interests.
Additionally, he claims that the agency did not comply with the Regulatory Flexibility Act and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act, which require that the impact on small businesses be considered in federal rulemaking.
The complaint seeks a court order blocking any further proceedings or scheduling actions on cannabis until the case is fully reviewed. It requests that all deadlines and hearings within the DEA’s administrative process be suspended while the legal issues in question are resolved.
While the initial hearing remains slated for December, John Mulrooney, the DEA’s Chief Administrative Law Judge, issued an order indicating that the DEA’s current witness list lacks sufficient detail. The judge has asked the agency for additional information on the witnesses and possible dates for a formal hearing early next year, potentially in January or February.
The DEA has hinted that further information may be needed on several aspects of the scientific review that informed the decision to recommend reclassifying marijuana. The agency’s recent actions have sparked speculation among some observers who interpret this as a sign of hesitation or skepticism regarding the rescheduling proposal.
Entities like Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NASDAQ: ACB) (TSX: ACB) within the marijuana industry will be following how this lawsuit plays out and the subsequent steps in the rescheduling process since a lot is riding on this expected change to federal marijuana policy.
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Medipharm Labs brought in $9.8 million in net revenue in the three months ended September 30, 2024 (Q3 2024) and $3.1 million in gross profit, but a net loss of $2.8 million.
Net revenue was up 15% from $8.5 million in the same quarter the previous year, while net loss declined from $4.3 million. Gross profit increased year-over-year from $2.4 million and $3.4 million in the previous quarter (Q2 2024).
The bulk of the company’s net revenue came from sales into the Canadian market ($6.2 million), increased from $5.9 million in the same quarter in 2023. Another $2.5 million in sales were in Australia, up year-over-year from $2.2 million, $1 million in Germany (up from $319,000 in Q3 2023), and $62,000 in other international sales (up from $5,000).
Of the sales in the Canadian market, $1.7 million were in the adult use and wellness markets, while $3.7 million were in the medical markets.
Medipharm’s Beacon cannabis brand increased to $400,000 in the most recent quarter, up from $135,000 in all of 2023.
The company reported its best quarter wholesale sales ($2.5 million) in the Australian market in Q3 2024 since acquiring Beacon Medical Australia PTY Ltd. in the second quarter of 2023. Medipharm attributes this growth to the addition of new high-potency flower and the recent launch of cannabis oils, vapes, and live resin vape cartridges.
The company says it also has additional commitments for sales into new international markets and is currently completing various international regulatory registrations, including the UK, Brazil and New Zealand.
Medipharms also says the completion of its move of medical sales and distribution from its Hope, BC facility, the former Canna Farm facility, to Barrie, ON, has resulted in cost savings. The company still hopes to sell the Canna Farms facility, one of the first licensed in Canada.
Medipharms also operates Harvest Medicine Inc., a medical cannabis clinic. Although new medical registrations in Canada have declined, Medipharms says its medical sales have stayed consistent, showing good customer retention.
David Pidduck, CEO of MediPharm Labs, commented, “MediPharm accomplished several important milestones in Q3 that will position us well for profitability in 2025. MediPharm has successfully diversified its business. As a global GMP player, our international sales grew 37% vs. Q3 2023, resulting in over 35% of revenue from outside Canada.
“We have a strong presence in the Canadian medical channel and growing B2B sales. Additionally, MediPharm continues to launch new products and build on our very broad product line in the Canadian adult use and wellness channel. This diversity has contributed to our balance sheet strength and our ability to capitalize on future growth opportunities in various countries, product categories, and channels.”
MediPharm Labs was founded in 2015. The Barrie, Ontario facility holds GMP certifications from Health Canada, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Association, and ANVISA (Brazil). The Barrie Facility obtained EU-GMP certification from the LAVG in July 2024. These GMP certifications have been accepted in other international markets, such as Brazil and the European Union.
MediPharm owns two wholly-owned subsidiaries, Canna Farms and ABcann. ABcann’s operations focus on European Union Good Manufacturing Practices related to cultivation and packaging for international markets.
In 2021, MediPharm Labs received a Pharmaceutical Drug Establishment Licence from Health Canada, becoming the only company in North America to hold a domestic Good Manufacturing Licence for the extraction of natural cannabinoids.
Rubicon Organics brought in $13.5 million in net revenue in Q3 2024, the three months ended September 30, 2024, its highest revenue in eight consecutive quarters, but a net loss of $168,498.
Net revenue was up compared to the same period in the previous year ($10 million) and the previous quarter ($12.1 million). Net losses have steadily declined over the last three quarters.
The BC-based, certified organic cannabis producer has seen year-over-year quarterly revenue growth from Q1 2022 until Q2 2023, which the company attributes to increased demand in key provinces. In the most recent quarter, for the three months ending September 30, 2024, the company reported its highest net revenue achieved in one quarter.
Rubicon sells three flagship brands: their “super-premium” Simply Bare Organic, premium brand 1964 Supply Co, cannabis wellness brand Wildflower, and the Homestead Cannabis Supply brand. The company says it currently has over 294 unique SKUs available for sale across Canada, with over 99% coverage of the addressable market in both non-medical and medical sales channels.
Total operating expenses increased year-over-year from $3.4 million to $3.7 million, but general and administrative expenses decreased by $19,887. The company expects to continue its year-over-year growth in net revenue, much of it from its branded products that are produced using external capacity and thereby deliver lower gross margins.
In the last two quarters of 2023, Rubicon saw a decline in net revenue, which it says is due to softened demand and price compression in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, as well as overall economic challenges facing consumers.
The company incurred $4.3 million in excise taxes from $17.8 million in product sales, up from $2.9 million in excise taxes from $13 million in sales in the three months that ended September 30, 2023.
“Rubicon Organics record net revenue for both Q3 and year-to-date 2024 reflects our strength and position as Canada’s leading premium House of Brands,” said company CFO Janis Risbin. “Rubicon Organics continues to innovate and expand our product offerings, solidifying a strong market share in premium flower, pre-rolls, edibles, and more. I’m particularly proud of the success of our 2024 vape launch, which has already achieved 55% distribution in just six months. Looking ahead, we expect to drive further growth in Canada and beyond, as we intend for new market entry in 2025.”
Rubicon’s 125,000-square-foot hybrid greenhouse is certified by the Fraser Valley Organic Producers Association (FVOPA) for organic cannabis cultivation.
The recreational marijuana market in the state of Missouri has already hit $1.4 billion, less than 2 years since its launch. Voters in the state approvedAmendment 3, a ballot initiative that legalized recreational marijuana in November 2022. Medical dispensaries were then given the go ahead to expand into recreational sales in February 2023.
The market’s current valuation is higher than states that’ve legalized the drug for longer periods, like Nevada, Colorado and Arizona.
During a recent conference, LKP Impact Consulting CEO Laurie Parfittdiscussed the state’s burgeoning recreational market. The conference, held in St. Louis, brought together over 1000 researchers, investors, regulators and industry leaders to discuss issues facing the marijuana market.
Parfitt explained that they expected this market to grow significantly, revealing that the top consumers of marijuana in the state were men. Latest figures from a report compiled by Headset show that men made up 64% of marijuana sales, with over 40% of consumers being millennials. In comparison, baby boomers, Gen Z and Gen X consumers made up 14%, 18% and 25% of the remaining consumers, respectively.
The data also shows that almost 50% of sales comprise of flower, with Parfitt pointing out that this was the primary driver of growth in the market.
Among the younger generation, vape pens come second to flower, with edibles following closely behind. This is different among the older generation, with data showing that the biggest edible consumers in Missouri are baby-boomer women.
The Vivid, Amaze Cannabis, Codes, Good Day Farms, and Illicit Gardens brands make up nearly 27% of total sales in the state.
Missouri Cannabis Trade Association Executive Director Andrew Mullins stated that their market was different from those of other states that transitioned from selling medical marijuana solely to both medical and recreational marijuana. He explained that while other states recorded huge increases in sales the first few months then drastic declines, Missouri’s recreational market had remained steady, recording roughly $120 million in sales monthly since its launch.
A report cited by the trade association shows that in the first half of this year, the state had the 5th highest recreational marijuana sales at $709 million. The first four states were California, Michigan, Illinois and Massachusetts, all of whom had legalized marijuana before Missouri.
Mullins also revealed that the market’s growth had increased employment opportunities in this industry. Recent data from the Division of Cannabis Regulation shows that the legal marijuana industry in Missouri employs over 20,000 individuals.
The rapid growth of the marijuana industry in Missouri is a welcome development for the entire industry, including entities like Curaleaf Holdings Inc. (CSE: CURA) (OTCQX: CURLF) since any progress made in any jurisdiction is a win for all industry players.
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(Globe Newswire) NEUMÜNSTER, Germany – Tilray Medical, a division of Tilray Brands, Inc. and a global leader in medical cannabis, empowering the therapeutic alliance between patients and healthcare practitioners to make informed individualized health decisions, today announced the launch of its first commercial German grown medical cannabis flowers from its Aphria RX GmbH facility. This launch marks the first medical cannabis products to be grown in Germany by Aphria RX under the newly issued medical cannabis cultivation license under MedCanG.
On July 15, 2024, Tilray Medical was the first to receive a new cannabis cultivation license issued under MedCanG. This license allows Aphria RX to cultivate and manufacture a broad range of commercially available medical cannabis in Germany. The strains to be grown at this indoor facility have been carefully selected from top performing varieties popular with patients across Canada.
Tilray’s Chief Strategy Officer and Head of International, Denise Faltischek, said, “We are excited to launch our Made in Germany premium cannabis products, which marks a significant milestone in our mission to deliver the highest-quality medical cannabisproducts to patients in Germany. This not only serves to expand Tilray’s leadership in medical cannabis cultivation, production and distribution in Germany but also proves our commitment to be one of the most responsible, trusted and market leading cannabis companies in the world with a portfolio of innovative and high-quality products that address the needs of patients. We reiterate our appreciation for the trust that the German Government has placed in Tilray, and we are proud of our Aphria RX team for their groundbreaking work in medical cannabis cultivation and patient care.”
Delivered a record net revenue of $13.5 million for Q3 2024, a 34% increase year-over-year, and $34.5 million for the first nine months of 2024, a 15% increase year-over-year.
Adjusted EBITDA1 of $2.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024
Operating cash flow of $0.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024
#1 premium licenced producer across all categories2
(Globe Newswire) Vancouver – Rubicon Organics Inc., a licensed producer focused on cultivating and selling organic certified and premium cannabis, today reported its financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024. All amounts are expressed in Canadian dollars.
“Rubicon Organics record net revenue for both Q3 and year-to-date 2024 reflects our strength and position as Canada’s leading premium House of Brands. Rubicon Organics continues to innovate and expand our product offerings, solidifying a strong market share in premium flower, pre-rolls, edibles, and more. I’m particularly proud of the success of our 2024 vape launch, which has already achieved 55% distribution in just six months. Looking ahead, we expect to drive further growth in Canada and beyond, as we intend for new market entry in 2025.”
“Rubicon Organics’ financial results for Q3 2024 reflect our strong operational execution and strategic focus. With a record-high net revenue of $13.5 million for the quarter and $34.5 million for the nine-month period, we have demonstrated our ability to achieve growth despite the challenges in the market. Our commitment to disciplined financial management has resulted in positive adjusted EBITDA for eight out of the last nine quarters. We also anticipate finalizing our debt re-financing before the end of the year paving the way for the Company’s next five years of growth,” said Janis Risbin, CFO.
________________________ 1 Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure that is calculated as earnings (losses) from operations before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation expense, and fair value changes. Included in Adjusted EBITDA in the nine months ended September 30, 2024 is $0.6 million of one-time costs incurred for the ERP implementation project.See Non-GAAP Financial Measures for details on the Adjusted EBITDA calculation. 2 Hifyre data for premium products covering flower, pre-rolled products, concentrates, edibles, topicals, and vapes for the twelve months ended September 30, 2024
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Q3 2024 and Subsequent Highlights:
For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024
Net revenue of $13.5 million (34% increase from Q3 2023) and $34.5 million (15% increase from Q3 2023) for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024.
Gross profit before fair value adjustments of $4.4 million (35% increase from Q3 2023) and $10.2 million (6% decrease from Q3 2023) for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024.
Adjusted EBITDA1 gain of $2.0 million and $2.4 million compared to $1.1 million and $3.1 million in Q3 2023, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024.
Cash provided by operating activities of $0.9 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024.
#1 premium licenced producer across all categories3 with 6.4% market share, up from 5.1%4.
2.0%5 national market share of flower and pre-rolls for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024.
5.7%6 and 6.2%7 national market share of premium flower and pre-rolls for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024.
Wildflower™ is the #1 topical brand in Canada with market share of 27.8%8 for the nine months ended September 30, 2024.
28.5%9 and 27.2%10 national market share of premium edibles for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024.
Launch of full spectrum extract vapes in Alberta, BC, and Ontario with four SKUs in market.
________________________ 3Hifyre data for premium products covering flower, pre-rolled products, concentrates, edibles, topicals, and vapes for the twelve months ended September 30, 2024 4Hifyre data for premium products covering flower, pre-rolled products, concentrates, edibles, topicals, and vapes for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 5Hifyre data for flower & pre-rolled products covering three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 6Hifyre data for premium flower & pre-rolled products covering three months ended September 30, 2024 7Hifyre data for premium flower & pre-rolled products covering nine months ended September 30, 2024 8Hifyre data for topical products covering nine months ended September 30, 2024 9Hifyre data for premium edible products coveringthree months ended September 30, 2024 10Hifyre data for premium edible products coveringnine months ended September 30, 2024
2024 Results of Operations:
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Three months ended
Nine months ended
September 30, 2024 $
September 30, 2023 $
September 30, 2024 $
September 30, 2023 $
Net revenue
13,499,282
10,041,746
34,495,396
30,123,479
Production costs
2,897,890
2,797,037
8,522,534
8,067,975
Inventory expensed to cost of sales
6,013,707
3,806,971
14,960,189
10,657,979
Inventory written off or provided for
209,770
194,798
788,773
525,401
Gross profit before fair value adjustments
4,377,915
3,242,940
10,223,900
10,872,124
Fair value adjustments to cannabis plants, inventory sold, and other charges
(500,324
)
(1,309,266
)
62,718
(1,776,209
)
Gross profit
3,877,591
1,933,674
10,286,618
9,095,915
As at:
September 30, 2024 $
December 31, 2023 $
Cash and cash equivalents
9,601,162
9,784,190
Working capital †
10,643,402
10,132,089
† Working capital as at September 30, 2024 includes $10.9 million current portion of loans and borrowings. The Company is currently in discussions with the debenture holder and other lenders to extend the term of the existing agreement or to enter into a new loan agreement anticipated to be finalised before the end of the year.
2024 Outlook
Brand and Product Development
Our strategy is founded on a strong premium house of brands, highly regarded by both budtenders and consumers alike. Guided by consumer research, we continually innovate our products to anticipate market trends. Our commitment to quality and excellence is evident throughout all areas of our business, seeking to deliver products and services that consistently meet the highest quality standards.
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Launch into Vape Category
Rubicon launched into the vape category with our 1964 Supply Co™ brand. The introduction of vapes strategically aligns with our market expansion strategy and offers substantial growth prospects. The vape market has demonstrated robust growth over recent years and trends in Canada and the US support the vape category’s increasing prominence, rivaling or surpassing traditional flower products.
Using our Delta grown genetics and supplementing with biomass of the same genetics grown at partners, we launched Comatose and Blue Dream Full Spectrum Extract (“FSE”) resin vapes in Ontario, BC, and Alberta in May 2024. Following strong demand, we launched new cultivars, with GLTO #41 in late July 2024 and White Rainbow in October 2024. We anticipate launching a fifth vape SKU in market by the end of 2024.
In line with our approach to the live rosin edibles we launched under the brand in 2023, we are focused on delivering products that maintain a competitive edge through superior quality, right price to value ratio leveraging our established and reputable brands. We are confident that by capitalizing on this opportunity, over time we can achieve comparable financial success with our vape offerings as we have with our flower business.
Wildflower™’s Leadership in Cannabis Wellness
Wildflower™‘s prominence in the cannabis wellness sector is driven by its notable topical products. The Company has expanded the brand to adjacent categories, including edibles, oils, and capsules designed to address specific wellness needs such as sleep, pain relief, and anxiety reduction. While we expect more competition to enter the topical and wellness category, we are expanding the brand into other categories and anticipate steady growth and momentum behind the daily wellness consumer.
Launch of New Genetics
Rubicon plans to continue to launch new and novel genetics into its Simply Bare™ Organic and 1964 Supply Co™ brands to continue leadership in the premium cannabis market. Launches in 2024 include BC Organic Zookies, BC Organic Power Mintz, BC Organic Fruit Loopz, and BC Organic Pineapple Sour under the Simply Bare™ Organic brand. Blue Dream, Stinky Pinky and LA Kush Cake have been launched under the 1964 Supply Co™ brand in 2024 with Sour Tangie expected to launch before the end of the year.
Growth from Solid Business Fundamentals
Consistent quality and systematic delivery to our customers, including the provincial distributors and retailers, and consumers to meet their needs is imperative to be successful in the Canadian cannabis industry. In 2024 we are investing in an Enterprise Resource Planning (“ERP”) system which is necessary for our business to deliver more growth in future and reduce reliance on key people within our internal systems. Project costs are estimated to reach $1 million, with $0.6 million incurred in the first nine months of 2024. While a resource intensive process, this ERP implementation readies our business for growth in the future.
Financial
We believe that our commitment to cannabis quality, strategic brand positioning, diverse product portfolio, and committed team will position us as one of the premier cannabis companies in Canada. For 2024, we continue to anticipate year over year growth in net revenue, supported by modest increases in our cost base, excluding the impact of the ERP implementation occurring across 2024, thereby enhancing our operating leverage. While we expect growth in 2024, we also anticipate that much of the growth will come from our branded products that are produced using external capacity and thereby deliver lower gross margin than our current mix. Furthermore, we anticipate continued fierce competition in the distressed Canadian cannabis industry, leading to the maintenance or growth of value and standard pricing tiers, rather than premium price tiers. Notwithstanding these pressures, we expect to deliver continued operating positive cash flow in the year ahead and plan to refinance our debt to a longer-term mortgage facility before the end of 2024.
Conference Call
The Company will be hosting a conference call to discuss Q3 2024 results on Thursday, November 14, 2024. Conference call details are as follows:
In the six years since Canada legalized recreational cannabis in October 2018, Ontario’s cannabis retailers have had a wild ride. Long waits for store licensing were followed by several years of rapid expansion and then a struggle for profitability.
Last year was tough for many store owners, and the next one might be worse. But the provincial treasury is doing fine.
Ontario’s legal recreational cannabis sales totaled $2.1 billion between April 2023 and March 2024, according to Statistics Canada. That’s up 12 percent from 2022-2023. The provincially-owned Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) handled 2 percent of those retail sales online, while private-sector stores made the other 98 percent.
On a per-store basis, sales rose only 5 percent, because the province had 7 percent more licensed stores than the year before. Data from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario indicate the province averaged about 1,750 licensed stores during 2023-2024.
That small store-count increase, however, masked extensive retail turmoil: while some stores opened, others closed or changed owners. Of the 2200-plus shops that have opened since April 2019, one-fifth have already shut down. That’s challenging, though not unusual forsmall business.
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The increasing store competition likely explains why Ontario’s retail cannabis prices averaged 5percent lower last year. The decrease made life better for consumers but tougher for retailers.
It appears 2024-2025 will be tough too. Total sales to date are down 9 percent from the same period last year, whereas the average store count is up 4 percent. So, a typical store’s revenues this year could be 13 percent lower.
Retailers did get some modestly good news last year when the OCS trimmed its wholesale markups.
During 2023-2024, the prices it charged retailers averaged 29 percent above what it paid producers, versus 31 percent the year before. That gave stores a slightly larger share of each sales dollar.
OCS meanwhile left its online retail prices unchanged. So, the prices that consumers paid on the OCS web site were about 75 percent more than what OCS paid producers for those products.
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Meanwhile, estimated prices at private-sector stores averaged only 66 percent above what the producers received. It seems shopkeepers are surviving on thinner retail margins than the OCS, despite paying the higher costs of operating brick-and-mortar stores. (For context, retail prices in Quebec were just 48 percent more than what producers got paid.)
Despite the price adjustments, OCS remained highly profitable. Earnings rose 4 percent in 2023-2024 to $244 million, thanks to rising wholesale revenue and interest income. And for the first time since legalization, OCS sharedits profits by transferring $365 million in dividends to the provincial government.
That still left OCS with $437 million cash. When asked last year how it would use that money, OCS declined to specify. They might be planning to spend that money on non-profit “social impact” projects, but those project grants totaled only $500,000 last year.
In addition to receiving OCS dividends, the Ontario government collected cannabis excise and sales taxes estimated at around $514 million. The federal government’s corresponding share was about $205 million.
Altogether, these figures imply that for each dollar Ontario consumers spent on recreational cannabis last year, the Ontario government and the OCS together got about 37 cents. The federal government received 9 cents, leaving 35 cents for producers and 19 cents for retailers.
So, while cannabis revenues are booming for the provincial government, retailers might feel they’re going bust.
A marketing campaign by Nova Scotia’s cannabis regulator is catching flack from a clinical psychologist for what he says is the promotion of cannabis use.
The marketing campaign by Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation’s cannabis branch (NSLC) that seeks to draw a distinction between legal and illegal cannabis products based on product testing refers to legal cannabis as the “safe” choice.
Clinical psychologist Simon Sherry, a psychology professor at Dalhousie University, tells media in Nova Scotia that the campaign is in the wrong for what he says is promoting cannabis use and the idea that cannabis is a safe product.
“Representing cannabis as a safe and a no-risk product, … that simply is inaccurate,” Sherry told CTV News Atlantic.
“It flies in the face of an extensive research literature that links cannabis up to depression, anxiety, psychosis, impaired concentration, impaired memory, respiratory problems, and a host of other difficulties.”
A representative for NSLC tells CTV news that the goal of the campaign was to highlight the risks of using unregulated cannabis products rather than encouraging people to use cannabis.
“As the responsible retailer for beverage alcohol and cannabis in the province, NSLC has a duty to share messages to help consumers understand the risk in making cannabis purchases from the illicit market,” said an NSLC spokesperson.
“The goal of the awareness campaign is to help consumers understand the importance of safe, regulated cannabis, by focusing on product quality and public safety.”
Several other provinces have recently launched similar campaigns aimed at informing cannabis consumers of the difference between legal and illegal cannabis products, including the lack of testing and quality assurance standards in the unregulated industry.
In October, the Ontario government launched their Buzz Kill campaign, which included a pop-up store made to look like an illegal pot shop. The OCS’ goal was to help educate consumers on the difference between legal, tested cannabis products and those that can be found in an array of illegal and unlicensed stores operating in the province.
In Alberta, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) recently launched its Forget Bad Bud campaign, as well, drawing attention to the differences between the legal and illegal cannabis market in Canada.
The campaign focuses on issues like quality control, strain selection, and education. It also seeks to educate consumers on how to identify an illegal cannabis store, especially the prolific number of illegal cannabis websites that ship cannabis products across the country.
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