It's been three months since the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada and one thing has become pretty clear... Quebec consumes a lot of weed.
It's been a rocky road for the province. In Quebec — where cannabis is sold by the government-run Société Québécoise du Cannabis (SQDC) — legalization came with some chronic problems. Quebecers all but exhausted the province’s legal supply within hours. In fact, the demand has been so high that the government-run SQDC has had to shut down three days a week to keep from completely running dry.
But, despite the ongoing supply crisis in the province, Jean-François Bergeron, the president of the SQDC, reports that the organization has made over $40 billion in profits so far. Impressive. Especially considering that number amounts to about 35% of all legal cannabis in Canada by weight. (By comparison, Quebec represents a little over 20% of the total Canadian population)
Another interesting note: According to Statistics Canada, Quebec has the cheapest marijuana prices per gram in Canada. The average price of products in the provice are currently $7.27 per gram (including taxes), which is lower than the Canadian average by almost $3. This may be part of the reason that the operation is selling so much. However, it should be noted that the SQDC isn't profitable, though it hopes to be by 2020.
On October 17th, Canada officially became one of only two countries in the world with legal adult-use cannabis. But, despite cannabis being legal across the country for over three months, there is still a lot of confusion — including where marijuana will be sold and where it can be consumed. The federal cannabis act sets a broad skeleton, but each of the 13 province and territories have set their own rules... You can find out more here and here.
