Legal marijuana goes on sale in Nunavut, Nunavik, but only online

Tweed, which is currently Nunavut’s sole contracted retail supplier of cannabis, is now selling its products online. Customers in the territory will pay between $8.50 and $17 a gram for cannabis through the service, owned by Canopy Growth Corp. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)

Cannabis is legal across Canada as of Oct. 17, but don’t expect to see long line-ups snaking around buildings in Nunavut or Nunavik.

Both jurisdictions are relying on online cannabis sales, at least for now.

And that caused a different kind of congestion on Wednesday. In Nunavut, the territory’s sole provider is Canopy Growth, whose Tweed.com is supplying weed to a number of provinces.

The site didn’t give access to Nunavut customers until about 11 a.m., and even then, some customers could not log in to its online shop.

Once they did, they’d find four strains of dried marijuana—or surrarnaqtuq in Inuktitut—to choose from, from more or less THC-dominant products.

THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that gives users their high, while CBD or cannabinol is another, non-psychoactive ingredient.

The Nunavut Liquor and Cannabis Commission said it has been in contact with Canopy Growth about the website issues, which technicians were working to resolve Wednesday.

The cost of marijuana products currently available to Nunavut residents range between $8.56 a gram to $16.99 a gram for higher-strength strains.

Shipping through Canada Xpresspost is $9 an order or free on orders over $99.

Made my first purchase @tweedinc. 3.5g each of the two strongest strains. With shipping, works out to $16/g. Purchasing locally, it works out to $14/g. My guess is street prices will drop. #shoplocal

— Tulugak Chatter (@TulugakChatter) October 17, 2018

The commission said Canopy Growth plans to make more products available to Nunavut over time.

Nunavut’s legislation allows for private retailers to sell marijuana in Nunavut communities, but the commission has said it won’t consider that option until 2019, and even then, there will be a process to allow communities to decide if residents welcome that option or not.

In Nunavik, where there’s no planned cannabis outlet, residents must also rely on online orders through the province’s new cannabis supplier, the Société Québécoise du cannabis.

Its website offers dozens of options, from dried marijuana to pre-rolled joints, oils, pills and oral sprays.

The SQDC’s products start at a little over $5 a gram up to over $100 for a 40 millilitre bottle of cannabis spray.

Oct. 17 marks the day that federal legislation comes into effect, legalizing the recreational use of marijuana.

It allows for the purchase and possession of 30 grams of dried cannabis. In Nunavut, the minimum age for purchase and consumption is 19; in Quebec, it’s 18, though the new Coalition Avenir Québec government has proposed to change that to 21.