An Ontario cannabis shortage looms as the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) shuts down deliveries after a cyberattack. It has fanned the flames for those who want to open up Ontario’s cannabis retail market, showing the weaknesses in the government’s monopoly. The OCS announced that one of its distribution partner, Domain Logistics, was attacked. Although the…
Although Robert Johnson’s Rolling Stone article predicting the future of legalized LSD is based on American realities, the Canadian parallels are clear. “In California (the world’s largest legal cannabis market)*, small cannabis businesses and legacy growers are going extinct. Plummeting wholesale prices, shortsighted regulations, and wildly excessive taxes are crippling the very craft growers who…
A Manitoba cannabis syndicate started as a tongue-in-cheek idea. Jesse Lavoie, founder of TobaGrown, saw that much of the Manitoba-grown cannabis had to be shipped to Ontario for processing before getting shipped back to retail cannabis stores. Shipping costs alone could be $1,000 – and that was before processing costs. “We all have similar issues…
Cannabis Carnival, what may be the province’s first legal, designated cannabis smoking space, opened up at Grand Bizarre within Exhibition Place. Touted as Toronto’s largest indoor and outdoor supper club, Grand Bizarre is a place where guests can “swim, eat, drink, and mingle” according to the CBC article (link below). The Cannabis Carnival is a…
Forbes reports on a study that shows how legalization is changing how cannabis Instagram influencers can talk about cannabis. The results, researchers found, are bringing cannabis more in the mainstream. The article quotes a research study, “From Dealing to Influencing: Online Marketing of Cannabis on Instagram”. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen compared the Instagram…
CNN reports of Scotts Miracle-Gro bringing cannabis into the mainstream marks the beginning of a new era in the United States. The 154-year-old company and leader in all things gardening has “quietly entrenched itself in the young and fast-growing industry” according to a CNN report. This has happened mostly through a subsidiary, Hawthorne Gardening Company.…
In late 2021, the current German coalition signaled that cannabis legalization in Germany remained a priority. However, competing priorities including COVID and then the invasion of Ukraine pushed that to the backburner. Now, there are signs that cannabis legalization in Germany is closer to becoming a reality. “A question that people keep asking me: ‘When…
In yet another sign that the cannabis market in Canada is finally loosening some restrictions, BC is pondering cannabis consumption spaces. The provincial government launched a survey in April to get public input into the plan, the Calgary Herald reports. The survey asks about opinions on onsite sales and cannabis consumption spaces in cafés, lounges,…
It’s a joke that writes itself says Samantha Israel in her special report to the Toronto Star on the city’s unique cannabis stores. A rabbi, a lawyer, and a millennial who own three different stores talk about what brought them to the business. Jacob Stevens, aka “the rabbi”, is not actually a rabbi but a…
On April 1, 2022, New Mexico legalized cannabis for adult use, becoming the 18th US state to do so. And, according to New Mexico Governor Michelle Grisham, the state’s launch was the most successful cannabis launch of any US state. “New Mexico’s launch of recreational cannabis has been one of the most successful, if not…
