{"id":267755,"date":"2019-12-16T11:30:21","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T16:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/issues\/what-have-we-learned-from-one-year-of-cannabis-legalization\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T22:45:57","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T02:45:57","slug":"what-have-we-learned-from-one-year-of-cannabis-legalization","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2019\/12\/what-have-we-learned-from-one-year-of-cannabis-legalization\/","title":{"rendered":"What have we learned from one year of cannabis legalization?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first year of legal cannabis sales in Canada did not go smoothly. To be fair, introducing a federally regulated legal supply chain that operates across 13 different retail systems for a product that has been illegal for almost 100 years is an extremely complex undertaking. But the sky hasn\u2019t fallen. And other countries, including Luxembourg<\/a> and New Zealand<\/a>, are looking at Canada<\/a> to inform their own legalization approaches. We definitely have lessons to share, and we might even have got a few things right, including restricting advertising, promoting lower-THC products, and investing in data collection and research.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what we have learned after one year of legalization.<\/p>\n

Creating a stable legal market is going to take time<\/strong><\/p>\n

Under Canada\u2019s confederated model of governance, the federal government is responsible for licensing production, while the provinces and territories are responsible for retail sales and distribution. Each province and territory has established its own model of private, government or hybrid sales. Some provinces have moved more quickly than others. Nova Scotia, for example, had its full allocation of 12 publicly operated stores open in October 2018. After Ontario had its provincial election in June 2018, the province changed from a public to a private model for storefront sales. Online retail sales from the publicly operated Ontario Cannabis Store began in October, but physical stores did not open until April 2019. Once storefronts were open, Ontario\u2019s monthly sales<\/a> jumped from $7.7 million to $19.7 million.<\/p>\n

Initial supply shortages hurt retailers across Canada. Federal licensing capacity was overwhelmed by demand. It takes time to grow, process, test and approve a plant product. Many retailers under both public and private models resorted to reducing store hours and staffing levels. Because of these challenges, sales did not meet optimistic year-one estimates<\/a>. As federal licensing catches up and production expands, this situation may become one of oversupply. For example, the finished inventory<\/a> of dried cannabis increased from 18,481 kg in October 2018 to 60,872 kg in August 2019, with an additional unfinished inventory of 328,187 kg (84 percent of the total).<\/p>\n

The introduction of edible cannabis products and cannabis extracts and topicals this month will further disrupt the emerging market. In Colorado<\/a>, for example, where recreational cannabis was legalized in 2014, edibles captured 13 percent of the legal market by 2017, with concentrates capturing 23 percent.<\/p>\n

Market stability is an important consideration in assessing the impact of legalization, particularly at this early stage. The success of legalization should, however, be measured against the government\u2019s objectives<\/a>: to prevent youth from using cannabis, protect public health and safety, deter criminal activity, and reduce the impact on the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n

New consumers tend to be older adults rather than youth<\/strong><\/p>\n

More Canadians are trying cannabis since legalization, according to the National Cannabis Survey<\/a>, to which Canadians voluntarily report their past-three-month use. But these new consumers are more likely now than before legalization to be 45 or older.<\/p>\n

Cannabis use in the 15 to 24 age group has been fluctuating over the past few years, but has not significantly increased since legalization. Canadians over 65 remain the least likely to consume cannabis, and they consume less often and in lower quantities, but rates of use in this age group have been accelerating more quickly<\/a> than among younger Canadians. The older age group is also more likely to report using cannabis for health purposes, which is of concern given the lack of evidence supporting many of the health claims being made, particularly for products high in CBD. Figure 1 illustrates these trends among different age groups.<\/p>\n