{"id":47918,"date":"2019-02-09T14:18:06","date_gmt":"2019-02-09T21:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=47918"},"modified":"2019-02-09T14:18:06","modified_gmt":"2019-02-09T21:18:06","slug":"long-time-cannabis-community-numb-to-pot-shortage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2019\/02\/09\/long-time-cannabis-community-numb-to-pot-shortage\/","title":{"rendered":"Long-time cannabis community numb to pot shortage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More Like No Cannabis: <\/strong>The storefront of one of the first pot stores in Calgary on Nov. 19, 2018. Nova Cannabis<\/a> struggled to maintain its stock over the first month after legalization. (Photo by Jake Cressy\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T<\/span>he Canada-wide pot shortage\u2019s negative effects haven\u2019t been felt by cannabis communities established before the Oct. 17 legalization.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>It\u2019s not a hidden secret that even before legalization we\u2019ve had a large group of online resellers for marijuana, many of whom don\u2019t require registration,\u201d said Randall, a user who has not switched his source for cannabis.<\/p>\n

The continued existence of these online resellers, along with more traditional street dealers,\u00a0 means that the changes for these users after legalization have been mostly aesthetic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve noticed that the packaging is now branded with the THC warning sign, and a label for whoever grew it instead of just the mail-order site now,\u201d said Randall, who spoke on the condition his full name be withheld.<\/p>\n

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Consider Yourself Warned: <\/strong>Warning labels displayed on legally purchased cannabis in Calgary on Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. Users are seeing these new labels on products from the newly opened stores as well as from previously established online sources. (Photo by Jake Cressy\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Legalization was supposed to bring an increased focus on shutting down illegal operations for the police.<\/p>\n

Although some operations have been shuttered, most dealers are maintaining their business and even benifitting from the new laws<\/p>\n

\u201c[My dealer] is fine. They\u2019ve got even more strains now,\u201d said Jay, who has not purchased legal cannabis yet. He also spoke on the condition he not be named.<\/p>\n

Dealers like Jay\u2019s even go so far as to put their product in properly labelled containers mirroring the practice of legal outlets.<\/p>\n

The greatest deterrent to the legal cannabis market for regular users isn\u2019t the lack of stock but the higher price point.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m willing to overlook the increased cost for reliability, but when some stores charge $50 for an eighth (3.5 gram) when the average cost for a quarter (7 grams) is $60, it\u2019s hard to justify that pricing,\u201d said Randall.<\/p>\n

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High Price Low Variety: <\/strong>A menu of available cannabis in the Co-Op Cannabis store in Calgary on Nov. 19, 2018. Several products are no longer available to buy in one gram packages and entire strains are out of stock. The high price of certain strains is deterring users from switching to a legal source. (Photo by Jake Cressy\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although some brands of cannabis are priced competitively with street market prices they tend to be of a lower quality.<\/p>\n

Legal cannabis stores may not be getting business from established users but they don\u2019t appear to be losing newer consumers to illegal sales.<\/p>\n

Buying from a legal outlet is \u201cthe only way I can confirm I\u2019m getting a high CBD strain because street weed is usually just really strong THC,\u201d said recreational user Stephen Reynolds.<\/p>\n

Reynolds doubts that he and others like him would turn to illegal sources even with a shortage going on.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people weren\u2019t buying illegal weed already then there\u2019s no reason for them to do it now.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the most talked-about options for counteracting the shortage is to take advantage of the legal option to grow your own cannabis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019ve always wanted to try but only if I can find a way to store it without it smelling,\u201d said Reynolds.<\/p>\n

Current Alberta legislation<\/a> allows for a maximum of four plants per household from legally purchased seeds.<\/p>\n

No restrictions have been placed on how large the plants may be.<\/p>\n

Many average users find themselves unable to take advantage of this option.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy lack of gardening skills and current living situation make me unable to pursue that idea,\u201d said Randall, who lives in a condo.<\/p>\n

The growing of a quality plant requires proper equipment and considerable effort.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want kids jumping the fence and grabbing my buds. – Jay<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Growing in your own backyard could lead to problems as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want kids jumping the fence and grabbing my buds,\u201d said Jay.<\/p>\n

Industry insiders are speculating that the cannabis shortage could last for several years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Canada-wide pot shortage\u2019s negative effects haven\u2019t been felt by cannabis communities established before the Oct.17 legalization. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":485,"featured_media":47928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S5 Black Market VS Pot Shortage","footnotes":""},"categories":[1362,9,1106],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-47918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cannabis","8":"category-life","9":"category-physical-health-and-wellness"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/485"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47918"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48975,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47918\/revisions\/48975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}