Nunavut expands choice, reduces mark-up on cannabis products
Only licensed weed is legal, GN warns
Here’s a screenshot from Vertical, an online cannabis store owned by Agmedica Bioscience Inc. of Chatham, Ont., which is licensed to sell legal cannabis products to Nunavummiut. (Screen shot)
The Government of Nunavut and the Nunavut Liquor and Cannabis Commission have taken steps to expand the range of legal cannabis products available to Nunavut residents and reduce prices, the GN said this week in a public service announcement.
“The NULC has worked with its agents to expand the selection of products available for sale. Effective July 2019, the NULC has also reduced its retail mark-up on cannabis products to $1 per gram,” the announcement said.
(Although the initials don’t line up, “NULC” is the GN abbreviation for Nunavut Liquor and Cannabis Commission.)
The sale and possession of cannabis products has been legal in Canada since Oct. 17, 2018.
But that’s only for products grown by government-licensed producers and sold by government-licensed retailers.
All other forms of cannabis produced outside the licensing system are illegal.
To that end the GN is reminding Nunavummiut that they may only buy cannabis legally from licensed agents of the NULC.
Also, it’s still illegal to order cannabis through the mail from anyone who’s not an agent of the NULC.
And edible cannabis products are still illegal in Canada, the GN says. They’ll remain illegal until after the federal government figures out how to regulate edibles, such as gummy bears and brownies
That means Nunavut residents may buy cannabis legally only through one of two online stores.
Here’s a screenshot from the Tweed online store, owned by Canopy Growth Corp. of Smith’s Falls, Ont. (Screen shot)
The first one to go into business for Nunavut was the Tweed store, owned by Canopy Growth Corp. of Smith’s Falls, Ont.
The other is an online store called Vertical, owned by Agmedica Bioscience Inc. of Chatham, Ont.
The GN plans to license the in-person retail sale of cannabis sometime in the future, but the Department of Finance is still working out regulations that would govern how that would work.
I still prefer ordering illegal cannabis as it’s better and cheaper priced. This legal website’s stuff is shitty and expensive, no pot heat would want that
It’s much cheaper to buy it off the streets. 2 for 20 in Iqaluit and better weed.
Buying off Iqaluit streets is shitty, small and doesn’t last long. I don’t recommend it to anyone
14 dollars a gram?! I still order and still do not use either of these ripoff sites.
Thats some ugly weed names, they should of come up with more Appealing names, cmon.. “heritage haze” and “longwoods leaf”… “hey bro wanna puff of that heritage haze?”
They’re not going to sell any more than they were before. The price is unreasonable, the quality is questionable and there is a thriving online marketplace where ounces can often be found for less than $100.
While I’m glad to see the NULC is slowly working to get new providers and lower prices, the lack of variety is going to keep pushing people to the black market. Together, Tweed and Vertical only have 15 strains of flower between them, nearly all of which are proprietary – no popular strains that people are familiar with like Sour Diesel, MK Ultra, Blue Dream, Northern Lights, etc.
It’s just too easy to get preferred strains off the black market for prices that are nearly half of what the NULC is charging.
Cannabis strains all have unique effects, and the NULC needs to realize that people have preferred strains of cannabis like they do for alcohol. They will not want to spend their money in the legal markets where those strains are not being offered. People would also be more open to trying the proprietary strains from Tweed and Vertical if they weren’t well over $10 a gram!
When I was about 18 years old or so, which was decades ago, we paid about $10 a gram. This was in the BC interior and it was good stuff. So, to see the price today at around $14 seems quite reasonable. When you compare it to the pre-legalization price of around $50 in Nunavut, it seems even better. As for quality, I personally think it’s just fine. My guess is the people who are complaining about these things are nostalgic for the days when prohibition brought the exciting sense that they were acting in transgression against a cultural regime we all secretly despised and knew was not legitimate. The weed was better then, the grass was greener and the water was cleaner, the sun shone brighter, the cars had real power and the girls… well. Ode to the good old days, right folks?
$11-$14 for a gram is not unreasonable… If you’re buying one gram. But prior to legalization, and still now in the black market, if you bought higher quantities you got a big discount. The licensed sellers give a very small discount.
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On Tweed’s Nunavut website, the cheapest strain goes for $147/15g, which works out to about $275/ounce. The cheapest strain on the Ontario Cannabis Store website works out to about $240/ounce. Yet I can walk into an unlicensed dispensary in Ontario and get an ounce of Orange Kush for $105.
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So yes, the prices are unreasonable.
Interesting points.
um, the comment before yours plainly describes why people still will not order from these sites. price and product. 2 simple drivers.
Even after the mark up reduction, the prices on those 2 websites are absurd. The Government is only pushing people to order from other sites with a larger variety and cheaper prices OR from the black market.
Cannabis will continue to decrease in price but will never get down to the black market levels for obvious reasons.
Legal growers have to;
1) have their operations approved, meaning secure growing locations (buildings, fencing, security camera, employee background checks, inspections, audits).
2) are restricted to the amount and potency of what they can grow and sell (bud & seeds at the moment) as well as meet all quality guidelines, especially controls on pesticide use.
3) child proof containers.
4) pay taxes, payroll, CPP, UIC, income tax.
5) provide (eventually) a ROI to investors.
6) controlled distribution to prevent minors using cannabis.
The cannabis market will continue to evolve, similar to that of the alcohol market which now has niche breweries and make your own wine/beer companies although there are few if any ways to make your own spirits.
Now I do support the legal growers. Just think if people paid just the GST on all the illegal cannabis sold, plus income tax on the illegal growers and dealers. That would go a long way to fund our social programs.
We should be glad that our government recognized that legalizing cannabis made sense from both a social and an economic standpoint.
People should be threatening the GN with legal action instead of the GN threatening us. Give us the same rights and freedoms as every other Canadian. Give us a local dispensary, let’s have a lousy beer and wine store in Kivalliq. Threat after threat when it’s our human rights.
Seems over-regulated. How are other marijuana products illegal? What if I make cookies from weed butter I made. Are they illegal? What if I bought a cookie and then “buttered” it… Would that be illegal? Is there an illegal smile we should talk about?
Interesting that this topic (weed and alcohol) brings more concern to people living in Nunavut than does the cost and lack of housing and the cost of food (for their families). But then what can one expect from dealers and users.
Look around you folks and see the harm that is brought upon our neighbours because of these two products.
The topic is weed. What harms does weed bring, Paul? Please expand on this claim
Omg I’m not a smoker but I’d get high on any kind of puffs ??