UVic news – University of Victoria

Hashish merchandise in BC are getting cheaper and stronger, and its year-over-year gross sales have doubled between 2019 and 2020, in keeping with a new report from the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Analysis (CISUR). In 2020, gross sales added as much as practically 8,000 kg of THC—equal to roughly 400 million joints (at 20mg of THC every) and accounted for about $290 million in gross income.

The report checked out gross sales information from the BC authorities, together with from wholesale gross sales, non-public retailers and retail gross sales from BC Hashish shops (in particular person and on-line), between legalization in Oct. 2018 and Dec. 2020. Researchers, led by CISUR director Dr. Tim Naimi, calculated the efficiency of all 1,811 distinctive merchandise in milligrams of THC to permit comparability throughout merchandise. Annual authorized hashish gross sales in BC rose from 64 mg of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) per particular person over age 15 (an ordinary measure for managed substances) in 2019 to 129 mg in 2020.

The province lately introduced it might permit private retailers to offer home delivery of cannabis beginning July 15, which is more likely to drive gross sales additional.

“As hashish gross sales by the BC authorities develop, we hope there’s a steadiness between client preferences, income concerns and public well being,” says Dr. Naimi. Examples of such sturdy coverage options may embrace cannabis-specific taxes, minimal costs per gram of THC, and efficiency restrictions, he says.

Another highlights from the report:

• Flower and pre-roll merchandise accounted for about 84% of all hashish gross sales by THC weight.

• The most important whole quantity of THC was bought within the Inside Well being Authority, however on a per-person foundation the most important quantity of THC was bought within the Northern Well being Authority.
• Non-public shops outnumber authorities shops by 10:1 and promote 4 instances as a lot hashish by THC weight.
• For flower, pre-roll, vape kits and vape cartridges bought at authorities retail shops, higher-potency merchandise tended to be cheaper per fastened quantity of THC than lower-potency merchandise.
• Since gross sales had been legalized, the median sales-weighted worth for flowers and pre-rolls has steadily decreased, that means customers are shopping for more and more cheaper and stronger merchandise. For flowers, the common worth together with taxes is roughly 12 cents per 5 mg unit of THC, so a joint containing 20 mg of THC prices about 50 cents.
• Stores for getting regulated hashish in BC are nonetheless on the rise, because the province went from 128 non-public and 11 authorities shops in Dec. 2019 to 270 non-public and 25 authorities in Dec. 2020.

This analysis was supported by the Authorities of BC.

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A media package containing related infographics is out there on Dropbox.