Canadian Cannabis Industry Weed Shortage Could Last 3 Years

Since the sale and use of recreational marijuana were legalized in October, product shortages have led some cannabis retailers to reduce hours or limit purchases. In Alberta, regulators originally estimated that up to 250 cannabis stores could be operating in the province by the end of this year. But product shortages caused the province to place a moratorium on issuing licenses in November. As a result, Alberta has only 65 cannabis retailers, with 20 of those located in the city of Calgary.

Chuck Rifici, chief executive officer of Auxly Cannabis Group Inc. in Toronto, said that the challenges of expanding cannabis production have made it difficult to meet the demands of the newly legal recreational cannabis market.

“There’s a lot of execution risk, people are expanding by 10, 20 times,” Rifici said. “Personally, I think we’re at least three years out from hitting real equilibrium.”

(read the full article at High Times)