It’s been a long, strange, turbulent trip for Karen Barry, five years after she received Alberta’s first provincial licence to legally sell cannabis.
Now, there are more than 1,900 unique cannabis products available in Alberta supplied by 142 producers, 32 of them in Alberta, says“We have over 400 edibles, and that segment of the market’s increased by 30 per cent in the past two years,” said Barry. A study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal released earlier this week states those using the drug has increased from 22 per cent of the population pre-legalization to 27 per cent today.
Even with its online retail portal, the AGLC never made money on its cannabis operations, with the agency recording a $4.3-million loss in 2022.Revenue from taxation was a brighter picture but, relatively speaking, the returns have been modest, with cannabis netting the province $37 million in 2022, up from $34.3 million the previous year and $18.4 million in 2020.
“With a lot of carnage , it became high-risk regardless if you were a good-paying citizen,” said Barry, who managed to switch banks for a better deal.Five years post-prohibition, Alberta is seen as a cannabis “superpower for its size,” given its regulatory model and the consistency of retail access, says George Smitherman, president of the Cannabis Council of Canada and a former Ontario government cabinet minister.
“This industry is not for the faint of heart,” he said, calling for lower levies and a more streamlined tax flow. Last year, Edmonton-based Aurora Cannabis announced it was closing three of its growing facilities, one of them in the Edmonton area.Aurora Cannabis’ retail and experience store is seen during a tour at West Edmonton Mall on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019.Most of the impact has been felt by small rural communities, which hosted the cultivation hubs and were initially euphoric with the employment they brought.
But industry players also haven’t helped their cause due to their own mismanagement and greed, she said. Using a marketer or middleman in the process gives a legal sheen to a practise that’s now routine, said Newman.One of the main reasons Ottawa cited for legalization has been the need to crush the black market, and it’s seen as one area of at least partial success.
The regulated sector has become more competitive on price and quality and can beat illegal players on innovation on other cannabinoids like CBDs but government has to allow for a healthier industry, he said. He had high hopes the concept would take off but restrictions on consumption, a lack of government policy and support and insurance roadblocks have nipped cannabis tourism in the bud, he said.
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