Share this Story: How much does legal weed cost in Ontario? As little as $7.50 a gram How much does legal weed cost in Ontario? As little as $7.50 a gram Photo by Julie Oliver / Postmedia Article content The weed at Ontario’s online government store starts at $7.50 a gram. Ontario began the era of legal recreational weed Wednesday with a web store that offered more than 80 cannabis products from a wide variety of Canadian cannabis producers. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or How much does legal weed cost in Ontario? As little as $7.50 a gram Back to video And the lowest prices at the Ontario Cannabis Store are competitive with the dealers and dispensaries that now supply Canada’s huge black market. Statistics Canada estimates the price of illegal weed in Ontario averaged $7.34 a gram in the first six weeks of 2018. They came up with the estimate by crowd-sourcing and monitoring a website that tracks the price of illegal weed. Photo by Julie Oliver / Postmedia The federal government has said a major goal of legalization is to take the marijuana trade out of the hands of criminals. Competitive pricing is key. Prices at the Ontario Cannabis Store cover a wide range, though, topping out at $17.25 a gram. Most of the dried flower products are in the mid-range around $8 to $10.50 a gram. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The store will eventually carry around 150 strains. It debuted with a selection of dried flower, pre-rolled joints, oils and capsules. The store has supply deals with 32 cannabis growers. Photo by OCS A wide variety of brands were represented. The names may soon become familiar to cannabis shoppers: They include Solei, Liiv, San Rafael ’71, The Edison Cannabis Company, Cove, Aurora, High Tide, Woodstock, Fireside, AltaVie, Broken Coast, Royal High, Flowr, Canna Flower. The products appear similar because of the plain packaging required by Health Canada. There are jars, boxes and envelopes in varied colours, all with health warnings and a universal THC symbol in a red stop sign. Photo by Julie Oliver / Postmedia Tweed Marijuana in Smiths Falls has several products for sale, including Highlands for $10.55 a gram. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content A brand called LBS is apparently an abbreviation of Tweed’s Leafs by Snoop line from rapper Snoop Dogg. The LBS box has the same gold leaf and strain name – Sunset – as the Leafs by Snoop that Tweed has sold to medical marijuana patients. The company had said it planned to sell Leafs by Snoop in the recreational market. Photo by OCS However, Health Canada has said the restrictions on advertising prohibit companies from naming pot after individuals or using lifestyle-type promotions. So it looks like Leafs by Snoop has become LBS. Several cannabis oils from Gatineau’s Hexo Corp. are on sale at the store, including an oral spray rich in CBD, the chemical component of cannabis that has medicinal benefits, for $140.15. Hexo also offers a THC-infused intimate oil called Fleur de Lune for $82.95. The terpenes, the components that give cannabis its smell, have been “muted to remove the aroma,” according to the description of the product. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Photo by Julie Oliver / Postmedia The product listings on the store include THC and CBD content, plant type and terpene profile. The store also has a small selection of vaporizers, grinders, trays, storage containers, tools, cleaning supplies and two types of pipes. No bongs. More accessories will be added later. The website asks visitors to provide their date of birth and check a box confirming the information is correct. Only Ontario residents can shop at the store. It’s the same policy for online stores that opened in other provinces. Newfoundland, by virtue of its east-coast time zone, kicked off legalization in Canada at midnight Newfoundland Daylight Time, or 10:30 p.m. Ottawa time, when both stores and online shopping opened for business. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Photo by Julie Oliver / Postmedia The Cannabis NL online store had a modest offering of 34 types of dried flower. Another 110 products, many of them pre-rolled joints, were billed as “coming soon.” The lowest price for a gram of weed at the Newfoundland store was $7.99. Prices clustered in the $8-$9 range, with premium brands around $12. The online store in P.E.I. debuted with around 45 varieties of dried flower, but many were sold in packages larger than one gram. The lowest one-gram on offer was $7.83. Only two types of oil were on sale. On New Brunswick’s online site, the lowest price was $8.99 a gram. In Ontario, people can only shop online until April, when privately-operated stores are expected to open. jmiller@postmedia.com twitter.com/JacquieAMiller https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbdMmvqEnxg&feature=youtu.be Share this article in your social network Latest National Stories Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Ottawa Citizen Headline News Sign up to receive daily headline news from Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Email Address There was an error, please provide a valid email address. By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it please check your junk folder. The next issue of Ottawa Citizen Headline News will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again Trending<doc-sep>Send this page to someone via email Four out of 10 Canadians say the price will determine whether they buy their pot legally or on the black market as legalization approaches. That’s according to a Global News’ exclusive Ipsos poll on cannabis usage in Canada. What that means is if the government prices marijuana too high, Canadians are likely to continue the status quo and continue using the black market to obtain cannabis, Jennifer McLeod Macey, vice-president at Ipsos Public Affairs, explained. 3:29 Stick with your dealer? Or buy pot legally? How legalization will affect the black market Stick with your dealer? Or buy pot legally? How legalization will affect the black market – Mar 28, 2018 About a third of Canadian respondents (36 per cent) say they’ll still get it from the same place as before legalization, while another 14 per cent said they’ll switch where they buy their weed. Story continues below advertisement “We have to remember that some users are getting it legally already, medically. A lot of recreational cannabis users are also medical users,” Macey said. “A lot of people are currently getting it illegally and they don’t expect much to change,” Macey said, adding that just over half of non-using Canadians (54 per cent) say they’re “really not expecting any changes after October 17.” Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "A lot of people are currently getting it illegally and they don't expect much to change," Macey said, adding that just over half of non-using Canadians (54 per cent) say they're "really not expecting any changes after October 17." Only five per cent of respondents said they would base where they buy their pot on the location of the stores. When it comes down to it, if the price of legal marijuana is too expensive, then buyers will continue to get their pot from their trusted source at a cheaper price, experts told Global News. “Pricing legal cannabis near the illicit market price, or even slightly higher as our data suggests, is an important factor in minimizing purchasing from the illicit market,” Michael Amlung, a behavioural neuroscience assistant professor and faculty affiliate of the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research at McMaster University said. Amlung said his data shows that between $10-14 per gram is the optimal price for Ontarians, but if it’s any higher, it will drive buyers to the illegal market. Story continues below advertisement He said the number of Canadians who will base their purchase on price could be higher than four out of 10 because people might not want to admit that they will continue using the black market, or they aren’t conscious of “how much price actually influences their purchasing.” We still don’t know what the price of legal cannabis will be across the country, but New Brunswick has listed prices from $7.50-14.99. The government has previously said the price may vary a bit from province to province. Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said in June the price will be competitive with the black market. But Macey says this data shows that Canadians will stick with the status quo and that the black market will remain active for at least a while. “I don’t think it’s going to change overnight,” she explained. “I don’t think there will be a massive change at the end of this week or the middle of this week.” WATCH: How to buy weed in Canada when it’s legalized 2:31 How to buy weed in Canada when it’s legalized How to buy weed in Canada when it’s legalized – Feb 3, 2018 According to the poll, about one in 10 non-using Canadians say they will start using cannabis after legalization, which suggests at least some will buy pot legally, Macey said. Story continues below advertisement A majority of Canadians (84 per cent) say legalization won’t change the amount of cannabis they consume, while another 13 per cent say they will consume more cannabis once it’s legalized. More younger people (aged 18-34) said they would consume more compared to their older counterparts. “But let’s look at the fact that we’ve got one in five Canadians who are currently using cannabis right now while it is illegal, so they don’t really have much concern about [the legality].” Statistics Canada officials say they plan to pull point-of-sale information from legal cannabis purchases to figure out how much people spend, its impact on the economy and provide a way to capture what’s left of the black market. WATCH: Is weed good for you? Everything we know about the health effects of cannabis 4:04 Is weed good or bad for you? Everything we know about the health effects of cannabis Is weed good or bad for you? Everything we know about the health effects of cannabis – Jul 5, 2018 Exclusive Global News Ipsos polls are protected by copyright. The information and/or data may only be rebroadcast or republished with full and proper credit and attribution to “Global News Ipsos.” Story continues below advertisement This Ipsos poll on behalf of Global News was an online survey of 2,000 Canadians conducted between Oct. 5 and Oct. 9. The results were weighted to better reflect the composition of the adult Canadian population, according to census data. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is considered accurate to within plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. — With files from Global News’ Rahul Kalvapalle<doc-sep>Cannabis sales were brisk around New Brunswick on the first day of legalized retailing, despite prices on many products that appeared to be the highest in Canada. Dameon Pettis was one of the first shoppers let into the Cannabis NB store on Moncton's Main Street but left without making a purchase. "The prices are just not in our price range, honestly," said Pettis. "I feel they should be lowered, but I guess in time. Nothing happens overnight." Cannabis products offered for sale this week vary among provinces, making comprehensive pricing comparisons difficult. But on popular items for sale across the country, it was hard to find any province charging more than New Brunswick. Dameon Pettis was the first shopper to walk out of a Cannabis NB store in Moncton, but he left empty-handed. (CBC) One item for sale on Wednesday almost everywhere was a whole cannabis flower called Lemon Skunk by the global company DNA Genetics. In New Brunswick, it was selling for $15.50 for a single gram including taxes, the most expensive price listed across Canada. In Prince Edward Island, the same product was retailing for $14.50. In Newfoundland and Labrador, it was $14, and in Nova Scotia, it was $13.43. Prices were lower still west of the region including in Ontario ($13.25), Manitoba ($12.60) and British Columbia ($11.22). Competitive prices Cannabis NB president Brian Harriman said last week the new Crown corporation does not have instructions to maximize profits, and pricing in New Brunswick would be "competitive" and set low enough to stomp out much of the the illegal market. "Obviously we're not going to get into a price war with the black market," Harriman said during an interview on Information Morning Fredericton. "Our goal is to shrink the illegal market and the reason we feel confident we can — we'll be priced competitively to today's [illegal] price — but [also] for similar reasons why people don't go to bootleggers anymore. A look inside Cannabis NB stores CBC News 2:01 The CBC's Julia Wright walks you through what buying legal weed in New Brunswick will be like. 2:01 "When you have the opportunity to come into a Cannabis NB store with 250 products available with an educated person there to help you make the right choices, and it's legal and it's safe — we think that shopping experience will be better than the current illegal one." Cannabis NB is budgeting for about $8 million per month in sales in its first year, but Harriman said it has no "profit mandate" from the province. Still, pricing on products on opening day were at the higher end of what other provinces have settled on. Highest pricing in Canada In Saint John, Shawna Cormier bought a pre-rolled joint from Edison called City Lights, which Cannabis NB prices at $7.50. "It's a little more expensive, but we're celebrating," said Cormier. But the exact same purchase is $1 less in both P.E.I. and Nova Scotia, a difference common across a number of products. For example, on Wednesday, Cannabis NB was selling the bud Kinky Kush by the Ontario grower CannTrust for $8.99 per gram, 13 per cent more than Ontario was charging. And while a 15-gram bottle of indica buds from the company Plain Packaging cost $119.99 in New Brunswick, it was $11 cheaper in Newfoundland and Labrador as well as Nova Scotia, and $25.19 less in Quebec. Nevertheless, Cannabis NB is projecting no profit for itself this year and insists making money is not its objective. Shawna Cormier made a purchase on Wednesday, despite what she calls expensive prices. (CBC) "The province is not looking at it [cannabis] as a financial opportunity or as an economic mandate," said Harriman. "They're saying to us, 'Help us shrink the illegal market. Help us protect our kids. Let's regulate it and control it. Let's make sure we provide a good shopping experience and make it available across the province.'" Do you want to read more about cannabis legalization? Here are a few more stories:<doc-sep>
Send this page to someone via email Editor’s note: This article previously indicated Nova Scotia had private cannabis retailers. In fact, cannabis is only available at the government regulated NSLC. Global News regrets the error. Cannabis is now available to purchase across the country for recreational use, and we’re finally getting a look at how the plant is being priced. The price point has been a hotly debated issue, as four in 10 Canadians have said the price of pot will determine whether they buy cannabis legally. MORE: For the launch of our weekly newsletter Cannabis IQ, we’re giving away $100 Visa gift cards. Click here to find out more. According to the Statistics Canada, on average, the price of pot on the black market was around $6.83 per gram. Canadians are willing to spend a little more to make sure they get their weed legally — but experts say the price can’t be too high or buyers will stick with the black market. Story continues below advertisement Michael Amlung, a behavioural neuroscience assistant professor and a faculty affiliate of the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research at McMaster University, said his data shows that between $10-$14 per gram is the optimal price for Ontario. WATCH: Alberta cannabis store Fire & Flower explains different strains of pot 2:58 Alberta cannabis store Fire & Flower explains different strains of pot Alberta cannabis store Fire & Flower explains different strains of pot – Oct 17, 2018 Provinces and territories are responsible for regulating pot sales, and new online shopping sites, both government-run and private, show there is a wide variety of marijuana with a variety of prices. Here’s a look at pot prices across the country: B.C. – In British Columbia, cannabis is available online and in government approved private stores. The government-run website offers dried cannabis flowers at $6.99-$16.28 per gram. Story continues below advertisement For the more expensive ones, you can buy at around $50 for 3.5 grams. You can also get a pre-roll for $4.20. Alberta – Private retailers will sell cannabis along with the official AGLC website. Prices range from $9.24-$15.42 a gram, but pot is also sold at $49.99 per 3.5 grams. You can get a pre-rolled cigarette for $6.64. WATCH: Cannabis company CEO says there’s no precedent or business model to follow so he’s following legalization in Canada closely 2:11 ‘There’s no business model to copy’ says cannabis company CEO following legalization in Canada ‘There’s no business model to copy’ says cannabis company CEO following legalization in Canada – Oct 16, 2018 Saskatchewan – Private retailers are allowed to set their own price. Retailer Eden in Edenwold, Sask. told Global News they are selling at $18.99 a gram, which would make it the most expensive province in the country to buy just a single gram. You can buy larger quantities for a cheaper per gram. Retailer Fire and Flower has listed their pot at $13-$16 per gram. Story continues below advertisement Manitoba – The province has licensed four stores, which are allowed to sell online or in a traditional storefront. Delta 9 Cannabis is selling online for $12 a gram, but supplies sold out within hours of opening. 1:04 Take a look behind the scenes at one of Winnipeg’s first cannabis stores Take a look behind the scenes at one of Winnipeg’s first cannabis stores – Oct 16, 2018 Ontario – The government-run website is selling cannabis for between $7.95-$13.25 per gram, though an oral spray can cost more than $100. Private stores are expected to be up and running in April. WATCH: Grow your own pot crop — cannabis experts explain process ahead of legalization 1:32 Grow your own pot crop: cannabis experts explain process ahead of legalization Grow your own pot crop: cannabis experts explain process ahead of legalization – Oct 16, 2018 Quebec – Quebec has previously said products will be priced at $5.25 a gram, taxes included. Marijuana will also be available at private retailers. Story continues below advertisement WATCH: Big lines ahead of cannabis store opening in Quebec 2:21 Big lines ahead of cannabis store opening Big lines ahead of cannabis store opening – Oct 17, 2018 New Brunswick – New Brunswick’s official government retailer has listed prices from $8.50-14.99. A joint can cost $7.50 or more. Private retailers are also available.