Quebecers turn to pot shops on Indigenous territory as SQDC struggles with supply problems

Some customers are turning to unregulated dispensaries on Indigenous territory.

Quebec’s cannabis retailers are struggling to get by on their own supply.

Last October, mere days after Quebec opened its first chain of dispensaries, the government-run stores were so overrun with demand that they ran out of weed. Repeatedly.

As an emergency measure, the Société Québécoise du Cannabis decided to open its dispensaries only four days a week. And for the foreseeable future, that’s how it will remain, according to the SQDC.

“Supply is still a challenge,” said SQDC spokesperson Fabrice Giguère. “We’ll only be able to open seven days a week when our supply can justify that. Right now it can’t.”

Meanwhile, Canada’s largest growers are ramping up production and dramatically increasing their Quebec-bound shipments. Between October and December, Canopy Growth saw a 66-per-cent jump in the amount of cannabis it sent to Quebec.

– Read the entire article at Montreal Gazette.