Synthetic Cannabinoids—Not Opioids—Caused Teen “Cannabis” Overdose

Two youths found unconscious in Milton, Ontario, after smoking what bystanders believed was cannabis were actually smoking synthetic cannabinoids—which they purchased from a head shop that had labelled them as the psychotropic herb salvia. (Both are illegal in Canada.)
CBC Toronto

Quick Hits

  1. Saskatchewan is the only province in which all REC retail—even wholesale and online—is private. It is the only province in which cannabis may be sold direct from an LP’s warehouse without having to pass through a provincial wholesaler. Retailer Fire and Flower hopes to capitalize on the province’s lax regulations and implement same-day delivery operated out of its wholesale centre.
    Globe and Mail—Paywall
  2. Anyone (except those in Quebec, Manitoba, and Nunavut) can join in the 4 Plants Cup, a cross-country contest for the best homegrown cannabis. It’s a low-rent event driven by the shared love of home growing. Competitors will be split into professional growers and amateurs.
    The Leaf
  3. The Leaf debuted a web-based explorer to show consumers which REC products are produced by which LPs.

Montreal SQDC Branch May Strike

At the SQDC outlet in Montreal’s Rosemont neighbourhood, workers have voted for a strike mandate, saying they want better wages, paid holidays, and bonuses.
CBC Montreal

  • They’re paid $14 per hour, which is just above the provincial minimum of $12.50, though they get enrolled in a retirement program and receive benefits available to other Quebec Crown employees.
    TVA Nouvelles
  • While $14 is a standard wage for retail work, SQDC employees say they require far more training than regular retail workers (the 20-hour SQDC onboarding course is the longest cannabis retail worker training in the country), and bear the responsibility of determining whether or not customers are impaired.
  • The SQDC was developed as a disconnected offshoot of provincial Crown wine-and-spirits agency the Société des Alcools du Québec. Ahead of legalization last year, the union representing SAQ employees fought hard against the SQDC being split into a separate agency, calling the tactic “a form of union busting.”
    Montreal Gazette
  • SAQ employees are paid $20.46 per hour; the unionized SQDC employees hope they can get their pay up to $18 through pressure tactics. The union notes SQDC executive salaries are comparable with those at the SAQ.
    La Presse—In French

Quick Hits

  1. The SQDC reported $71M in sales in its first year ($57M in-store, $14M online), alongside losses of $4.9M representing “non-recurring startup costs.” Government revenues from the SQDC’s consumption and excise taxes added up to roughly $29.7M. The SQDC expects to make $20M profit next year.
    SQDC, MJ Biz Daily, Montreal Gazette, Bloomberg
  2. Quebec premier François Legault expressed sympathy for Gatineau residents who’ve complained about odours emitted by Hexo’s production facility in rural Masson-Angers—which produces roughly one third of all REC sold in Quebec. Legault suggested he might tighten regulations on cannabis production sites. “We are looking right now in two or three different ministries to have rules put in place that ensure there is no negative impact on neighbours,” Legault said.
    CBC Ottawa
  3. The Ontario Cannabis Store is inking supply agreements with new suppliers and brands—including Seth Rogen’s Canopy subsidiary Houseplant.
    CNBC
 

Federal Business Bank Still Won’t Work with Weed

Crown corporation the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) admitted to lawyer Trina Fraser they will not fund businesses “involved in the transformation, cultivation and production of cannabis,” though they said they would “review [their] position over time based on industry developments.”

  • Cannabis brand manager Rachel Colic reported that venture capital companies partnered with the BDC are also banned from funding cannabis projects.
  • Fraser noted the industry could not be more legal than it is, and asked what the barrier to changing policy would be. BDC representatives responded, “Developments that could influence our current risk evaluation. It is a nascent industry, that we want to understand more and continue monitoring.”
  • · Fraser responded, “That feels like a cop-out. We’ve had a federally legal framework for licensed production of cannabis for over 5 yrs now (medical and/or rec). BILLIONS of $ have been invested. Will you actively engage with industry to truly evaluate risk?”
  • BDC requested she contact them privately to continue the discussion.
    Twitter

Quick Hits

  1. The cannabis industry is fast becoming one of the largest employers in some Southern Ontario areas.
    London Free Press
  2. Health insurance plan sponsors and members are warming to MED coverage.
    Benefits Canada
  3. BC has shared none of its excise taxes with its municipalities, and some are saying municipalities that ban REC retail should receive a smaller share than those that allow and regulate cannabis stores. Saskatchewan municipalities also complain the province isn’t sharing excise tax revenues with them.
    Vancouver Sun, CBC Saskatoon, Humboldt Journal

Obstinate Toronto Dispensaries Refuse to Be Closed

Roughly a dozen illicit dispensaries continue operating in Toronto, and they’re fighting harder than ever against eviction efforts by city bylaw enforcers and police. In many cases, stores reopen after raids, sometimes even breaking sealed doors and windows to get inside. Then last Toronto figured out what seemed like a solution: last weekend they began blocking the fronts of illicit REC stores with stacks of giant concrete blocks.
CBC Toronto, Global News

Quick Hits

  1. Vancouver’s illicit dispensaries shut down after an ordered from the BC Court of Appeal—but they’re still selling online.
    Globe and Mail
  2. In provinces that allow home cultivation, it’s illegal to grow cannabis in a place other than your own home—unless you have a MED permit.
    The Leaf
  3. An adults- and couples-only inn and spa in Ontario touted itself as “Canada’s first publicly cannabis-friendly resort.”
    The Leaf

Tilray Merges with Privateer

Tilray inked an agreement to merge with American private equity company Privateer Holdings, which previously owned roughly 77% of Tilray (75M shares). Privateer will become a wholly owned Tilray subsidiary.
CBC Business, Financial Post

Quick Hits

  1. The average online price of legal REC in five provinces has increased to $10.42 per gram even as supplies are becoming more stable.
    Globe and Mail—Paywall
  2. An industry analyst forecasted a dried-cannabis oversupply by the end of the year. “By January, we are going to be swimming in dried cannabis biomass,” he said. The Leaf‘s Solomon Israel noted oversupply would drive down cost of legal REC, which would diminish the illicit market.
    Financial Post
  3. Companies planning to expand cannabis operations into Latin America and the Caribbean can read up on the process in a new guide from Meritas Law Firms.
    Twitter—Trina Fraser

Health Canada Reg Drop Fever

Health Canada announced its regulations for ingestibles/edibles, extracts, and topicals on Friday during a conference call with media. After four months of public consultations, the rules were scarcely different than the previous draft.
Financial Post

  • The regs will be published in Canada Gazette Part II on June 26 and will come into force on October 17, at which time producers must give Health Canada 60-day notification of their intent to produce new cannabis products. The 60-days should be considered a minimum wait period.
    MJ Biz Daily
  • New products will become available for purchase no earlier than mid-December. Vape pens will likely come first.
    Twitter
  • Edibles/ingestibles will be capped at 10mg THC per package to avoid “adverse reactions and accidental hospitalizations,” prompting complaints it will exacerbate overpackaging and inconvenience MED patients.
    Twitter
  • Gummies will be allowed, but must not appeal to children. Health Canada will not tell industry which flavours, colours, shapes, or branding is permissible—they’ll only inform LPs when they find products they believe “appeal to kids.”
  • Sweetened vape products will not be allowed, nor will products containing alcohol, tobacco, or caffeine.
    CBC Politics
  • Ingestible extracts will be capped at 10mg THC per unit, with a maximum 1,000mg THC per package.
  • Extracts for inhalation will be capped at 1,000mg THC per package.
    Globe and Mail—Paywall
  • All extracts will be subject to a maximum package size of 90ml for liquid extracts below 3% THC, and 7.5 grams for solid extracts over 3% THC.
  • Edibles must be shelf-stable, not requiring refrigeration or freezing.
  • A Health Canada representative told us, “The framework that’s been constructed does not allow restaurants to prepare and serve foods containing cannabis to the public”—though provincial/municipal law may allow restaurants to invite customers to bring their own.
  • The second-building rule stands: infused products must be made in a separate building from regular products.
  • The Health Canada rep also said, “Health Canada has committed to hold consultations on precise question of CBD as natural health product.” […] I’m not in a position to say with any certainty when those consultations would be launched.”
  • Deepak Anand noted the requirement for tax stamps to fit onto edibles packaging “will result in massive outer packaging! Need new (smaller) tax stamps for smaller packaging and product forms.”
    Twitter
  • Producers and retailers are excited. Valens GroWorks CEO Tyler Robson said, “It should really kick-start the industry. Retailers should start getting excited now that they can actually offer different products to really drive people to their stores.”
    MJ Biz Daily

Quick Hits

  1. Lift & Co. estimates the new products will create 1.5M new cannabis consumers.
    InvestingNews
  2. The Ontario Cannabis Store issued a call for producers to submit products in the new “Legalization 2.0” categories.
    MJ Biz Daily
  3. The average edible high lasts six to eight hours, but edible experiences depend on individual metabolism.
    GrowthOp
  4. You should know what to

Tracey Curley: In Memoriam

Last weekend, cannabis communities across Canada were rocked by the news that firebrand activist, MED patient and advocate, businesswoman, and larger-than-life personality Tracey Curley had died at home of unspecified causes.
Leafly, Night Court Cannabis Edition, Twelve High Chicks, The Straight

  • As NICHE executive director Jenna Valleriani wrote in a moving tribute, Curley was feared, loved, and respected for her confrontational attitude and her unbending ethical devotion to patients at a time when, “There was no ‘industry,’ just a grassroots community of people engaging in civil disobedience because the laws needed to change.”
    NOW Toronto
  • Figures from across the sector paid tribute to Curley online.
    Twitter
  • I only ever met Tracy very briefly but I got the sense that everything I’d heard about her was true. She was an intense and powerful character whose advocacy made many MED patients feel supported and loved. Her passing is an immense loss to the cannabis community, the cannabis business sector, and above all to her many friends and loved ones.

Quick Hits

  1. The federal Liberal government’s cannabis records-suspension Bill C-93 passed through the house and returned to the Senate, which sits for four more weeks before summer.
    iPolitics
  2. Ontario Provincial Police in the Kawartha Lakes region charged one man with being in control of a boat with cannabis readily available, while also charging his boating companion for having an open container of liquor.
    Global News
  3. Police in Aurora, Ontario laid multiple charges against a cannabis-delivery driver.
    TV News

Legalization With Room for Regular People

Craft growers continue to argue Health Canada’s new regulatory demand for completed premises—which cost roughly $1M—locks out potential micro-cultivation applicants. “Who do you know that earns maybe $50,000 a year that can plant a $1-million-dollar facility?” asked one grower.
The Tyee

  • GrowTech Labs CEO Barinder Rasode stressed the original Health Canada legalization plan was founded on opening the market to small producers, and called on the federal Liberals—as well as provincial and municipal governments—to make it a priority to help smaller producers into the industry. The Province

Quick Hits

  1. Grower Travis Lane slammed the price of pre-rolls on sale at City Cannabis in Vancouver. “Even the $17 half-grammers are outrageous. $69 per gram is shameful gouging,” he tweeted. Not long after, City Cannabis apologized and said they had “mislabeled the product list.” Twitter
  2. The Smoke Free Ontario Act bans the display of vapour products “in any manner that would allow the consumer to handle them or see them,” and vape retailers say that makes their products very difficult to sell.
    Global News
  3. Hunny Gawri, proprietor of Toronto’s first REC store the Hunny Pot, says his store has had between 50,000 and 60,000 customers in the two months since it opened.
    The Star
 

Pilots, Flight Crews, and Controllers get 28-Day Pre-Work Ban

Transport Canada banned cannabis within 28 days of a shift for in-flight crews as well as air-traffic controllers.

  • Geneticist Ryan Lee noted, “Forget THC for second, which does not impair after just a few hours post-consumption. This effectively eliminates treatments involving CBD, CBG, CBN, CBDV, THCV – all NON-INTOXICATING cannabinoids.”
    Twitter

Quick Hits

  1. Apps and games designed to tell you how high you are may not necessarily be trustworthy.
    Global News

Canada Needs Thousands More REC Stores

The Globe mapped Canadian REC retailers and discovered there are 0.8 stores for every 100,000 Canadians, compared with Colorado, where there are 10 per 100,000 residents. Newfoundland has 4.8 stores per 100,000 residents, and Alberta has 2.4. In order to meet demand, most provinces would need more than 3,000 more REC stores.

Quick Hits

  1. Vaporizer-maker PAX Labs announced a partnership with Aphria, Aurora, Organigram, and Supreme Cannabis to offer their products in pods compatible with the PAX Era vaporizer.
    NewsWire
  2. POPCANN is a Toronto start-up whose product is mobile, regulatorily compliant cannabis stores, contained within a trailer and transportable to northern communities as well as to events like music festivals.
    NewsWire
  3. Former executive director of the Colorado Department of Revenue Barbara Brohl said tax revenues from cannabis have been in steady decline since legalization and warned Canadians not to expect cannabis taxes to provide endless funds. However, she added, consumers in Colorado have proven they’d rather buy from regulated producers and sellers than from the unlicensed market—which has been forced out of state.
    Bloomberg