Expect ‘Long Waits and Limited Selection’ on Day One of Weed Legalization

Article by Jen Skerritt, Bloomberg News

Eager pot buyers hoping to score some weed when Canada goes legal next week could be in for a bummer.

Across the nation, only a handful of retail locations will be up and running on Oct. 17, including just one store in British Columbia and none in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province. Producers, meanwhile, are unlikely to come close to meeting initial demand due to delays in getting licences and signing supply agreements. The result will be limited selections of dried bud and oils for consumers.

“It will be a fairly thin market to begin with and maybe that’s why a lot of these provinces haven’t rushed to get retail locations and bricks and mortar for day one,” said PI Financial analyst Jason Zandberg. “I would expect there to be long waits and very limited product types.”

The limited store openings and pot supplies may hamper sales at the outset, curbing enthusiasm for pot stocks that have soared in anticipation of Canada becoming the first Group of Seven nation to legalize marijuana. Canada’s market is expected to soar to $4.3 billion in the first year, according to Deloitte, with global demand poised to juice sales further as more countries follow Canada’s lead.

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