The cannabis black market will control 71 per cent of sales in Canada this year, Scotiabank says
Lack of consistent supply in legal cannabis shops has been a major market stimulator for the illicit sector
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
A new research note from Scotiabank analysts estimate that the black market will control 71 percent of cannabis sales in Canada in 2019. The logistical challenges and related supply issued of producing legal cannabis are many–and as a result, the cannabis black market is booming. Oliver Rowe and Ben Isaacson calculated the figure, which reduced its legal recreational sales prediction to about 30 percent, citing supply issues, government inspections, packaging snags and quality control issues as some of the reasons for the low percentage. “As we expect these issues, particularly the limited retail presence in key provinces, to continue through 2019, we have reduced those volumes by 100 metric tonnes, or 30 percent of legal demand,” according to Scotiabank.
