Author name: Kducey

Health Canada has updated regulations governing the nation’s cannabis operators to address industry challenges while keeping intact public health and safety standards.

The updates to the nation’s Cannabis Act as well as the Cannabis Regulations and Hemp Regulations were published March 12 in the official Canada Gazette.

Pre-rolls are no longer limited to 1 gram for each unit, and the use of ethyl alcohol in certain cannabis products is now allowed as an ingredient in inhaled extracts up to 7.5 grams.

Packaging for dried marijuana, fresh cannabis or seeds now can have cutout windows and containers as well as different colors, not just one.

Labels now can include QR codes and peel-back labels are permitted on all package sizes, not just small containers.

Other changes to the regulations include:

• Researchers no longer need a license to conduct non-human or non-animal research while possessing 30 grams or less of dried cannabis or its equivalent.
  
• The limit for micro-cultivators growing increased from a 200-square-meter canopy to 800 square meters with no limit on how much volume of cannabis can be grown.
  
• Micro-processors production capacity increased from 600 kilograms (roughly 1,323 pounds) to 2,400 kilograms.
  
• Health Canada can suspend licenses operators that have unpaid fees or who fail to submit a statement of cannabis revenue.
  
• The regulatory changes are expected to save licensees nearly 18 million Canadian dollars (roughly $12.5 million) in compliance costs and more than CA$24 million in administrative costs, according to StratCann.

Written by Hazel Norman on March 3, 2025. Posted in Policy.

Over the weekend Colombian President Gustavo Petro urged his nation’s Congress to legalize cannabis for adult use, stating in a social media post (translated from Spanish to English) that “the prohibition of marijuana in Colombia only brings violence.”

“The empowerment of mafia organizations shows the failure of prohibition and the absence of alternative measures to simple prohibition,” President Petro also stated in his social media post. “I ask the Colombian Congress to legalize marijuana and remove this crop from violence.”

This is not the first time that Colombia’s current president has publicly expressed support for cannabis legalization. In late 2023, when a push for legalization in Colombia failed, President Gustavo Petro called out lawmakers for ‘helping to perpetuate illegal drug trafficking and the violence associated with the unregulated trade.’

Colombia is home to an emerging legal medical cannabis industry, including the legalized exporting of medical cannabis products. Colombia’s legal industry exported over $10.8 million worth of medical cannabis products in 2023.

Cannabis is currently legal at a national level for adult use in Uruguay, Canada, Malta, Luxembourg, Germany, and South Africa. Additionally, cannabis is legal at a state level in two dozen states in the U.S., and regional adult-use cannabis commerce pilot trials are currently operating in the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Written by Hazel Norman on March 3, 2025. Posted in Policy.

Adult-use cannabis legalization could generate as much as £1.5 billion in revenue and savings according to a new report by the advocacy group Transform Drug Policy Foundation.

The report, which was posted on the organization’s social media account, determined that over £1.2 billion would be generated from taxes and fees annually, and an additional £284 million would be saved annually by the nation’s criminal justice system no longer enforcing cannabis prohibition policies.

“There would be costs incurred for Govt by regulatory infrastructure – inspection, monitoring, compliance, trading standards etc – but largely covered by licensing/other fees.” the organization stated on social media.

Transform Drug Policy Foundation also determined that “up to 15,500 full-time jobs could be created in cultivation, manufacturing, retail & related services, (depending on the model implemented).”

The Cannabis Legalization report also found that “a regulated market could displace 80% of the illegal trade in five years (based on trends in Canada).” The organization’s proposed legalization model involves permitting home cultivation, cultivation associations, and a government retail monopoly.

A previous analysis published last year by UK-based advocacy group CLEAR determined that legalizing cannabis for adult use in the United Kingdom and taxing and regulating sales could generate as much as £9.5 billion per year based on their proposed model.

Written by Johnny Green on March 5, 2025. Posted in Business, Policy.

Argentina

Written by Frank Schuler on March 2, 2025. Posted in Science.

Cancer is one of the worst things that can ever happen to a person. Anyone who has survived a battle with cancer or had a friend or family battle cancer knows that unfortunate fact firsthand.

According to estimates from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, “in 2022, there were an estimated 20 million new cancer cases and 9.7 million deaths” and “about 1 in 5 people develop cancer in their lifetime, approximately 1 in 9 men and 1 in 12 women die from the disease.”

One of the ongoing symptoms of cancer is chronic pain. A recent study conducted in the United Kingdom found that cannabis therapies may offer sustained relief for cancer-related pain. Below is more information about the study and its findings via a news release from NORML:

London, United Kingdom: Cancer patients report less pain and improved sleep following their use of cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs), according to observational data published in the Journal of Pain & Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy.

British researchers assessed the use of botanical cannabis or oil extracts in 168 cancer patients enrolled in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry. (British specialists are permitted to prescribe cannabis-based medicinal products to patients unresponsive to conventional medications.) Researchers assessed changes in patient-reported outcomes at one, three, and six months.

Patients’ use of cannabis products was “associated with improvements in all pain-specific PROMs [patient-reported outcome measures] at all follow-up periods,” investigators reported. Study participants also reported improved sleep and less anxiety. No significant adverse effects from cannabis were reported.

The study’s authors concluded: “Initiation of CBMPs is associated with improvements in pain-specific and general health-related quality of life outcomes in CP [cancer pain] patients over six months, with a relatively low incidence of mild-to-moderate AEs [adverse events] and no life-threatening AEs. … RCTs [randomized controlled trials] and longer observational case series are warranted, but this study can help inform their rollout, serving as a valuable pharmacovigilance tool for the use of CBMPs in CP, either as an alternative therapeutic option or as one part of multimodal treatment.”

Other observational studies assessing the use of cannabis products among patients enrolled in the UK Cannabis Registry have reported them to be effective for those diagnosed with anxiety, fibromyalgia, inflammatory bowel disease, post-traumatic stress, depression, migraine, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis, and inflammatory arthritis, among other conditions.

Full text of the study, “UK Medical Cannabis Registry: An analysis of clinical outcomes of medicinal cannabis therapy for cancer pain,” appears in the Journal of Pain & Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy.

United Kingdom

Cannabis sales increased from 2023 while alcohol sales declined somewhat, according to the newest figures shared by Statistics Canada.

Although cannabis sales have been somewhat cooling from the exponential growth seen in the first few years of legalization, sales of recreational cannabis by provincial cannabis authorities and other retail outlets increased 11.6% or $500 million from fiscal year 2022 to fiscal year 2023. 

This is equivalent to $163 per person of legal age to consume cannabis.

Meanwhile, alcohol sales, while still far higher overall than cannabis sales at $26.2 billion, saw historic declines in sales, down 0.1% in 2023/2024 from fiscal year 2022/2023.

The decrease in alcohol sales occurred despite a 2.5% increase in the price of alcoholic beverages in stores from March 2023 to March 2024. Conversely, the 11.6% year-over-year increase in cannabis sales came when cannabis prices declined 2.8% (March 2023 to March 2024).

Inhaled cannabis extracts continued to be the fastest-growing product category in 2023/2024, up 31.4% year-over-year after growing 59.% the previous fiscal year. This category, which includes not only extracts like hash, shatter, or live rosin, but also vape pens and infused pre-rolls, was the most significant contributor to the increase in cannabis sales in 2023/2024, accounting for 67.5% of the $500 million overall increase.

Yukon had the highest sales per person of legal age to consume cannabis at $356 a person, while Quebec had the lowest at $96. Quebec does not allow sales of cannabis extracts unless they have less than 30% THC, and has significant restrictions on cannabis edibles. Quebec has also banned the sale of cannabis topicals, although this is a very small product category overall. 

Cannabis vapes are said to be coming to Quebec later this year. 

Retailers that Stratcann spoke with recently shared similar insights into current sales trends. While cannabis flower, including pre-rolls, continues to dominate sales, infused pre-rolls and vapes, especially all-in-one or disposable vapes, continue to eat into their market share.

British Columbia, one of the few provinces to release quarterly wholesale sales reports for cannabis products, noted that inhalable extracts sales for the last three months of 2024 were $55.4 million, while cannabis flower and pre-rolls were $76.1 million – $44.2 million in dried flower, and $31.9 million in pre-rolls. 

Disposable vape pen sales in that province increased by a whopping 193.9% year-over-year and 92.6% in terms of units sold (258,418 units sold), continuing an ongoing trend. Sales of infused pre-rolls increased by 19.3%. Inhalable extract sales increased by 15.7% year-over-year, and units sold increased by 13.8%. Dried flower sales increased by just 0.8%, while units sold decreased by 1.7%.

Ottawa and several provinces have made recent moves to make intra-provincial alcohol sales direct to consumers, but cannabis continues to be excluded from such conversations despite being a greater contributor to Canada’s GDP than many aspects of the alcohol industry.

Stratcann.com | March 7, 2025 | Sarah Clark

Canada’s legal cannabis industry contributed more than $8.3 billion to the country’s GDP in 2024, according to the most recent figures from Statistics Canada.

As in previous years, the majority of this came from licensed cannabis production, at nearly $7.4 billion, while retail added around $951 million on top of that. 

The illicit cannabis market added another nearly $2.6 billion to Canada’s GDP in 2024, down slightly from 2023, with most ($1.7 billion) coming from unlicensed cannabis production, and $951 million coming from illicit cannabis retailers, both online and brick-and-mortar. 

Licensed cannabis stores’ contribution to Canada’s GDP surpassed that of unlicensed retailers for the first time in 2023, a trend that continued in 2024.

While still only a fraction of Canada’s more than $2 trillion GDP, the legal cannabis industry in Canada is nonetheless a more considerable contribution to that overall number than many other industries, including breweries, wineries, and distilleries, as well as potash, dairy, coal mining, meat production, and natural gas production, to name a few. 

Cannabis production’s contribution to Canada’s GDP is also about one-third of all crop production in the country, while licensed cannabis stores are about one-quarter of all retail stores’ contribution to GDP.

Stratcann.com | March 10, 2025 | Staff

Calgary City Council voted 8-6 in favour of a motion to have city staff align the city’s bylaws to allow a permitting process and festival applications to allow for the sale of cannabis at minors-prohibited events.

The notice of motion was brought to council by councillor Kourtney Penner, who told councillors the goal was not to promote cannabis use but to align the city’s bylaws with provincial regulations. This is similar to changes made by Edmonton.

In 2024, Alberta began allowing cannabis retailers to apply for a licence extension for the purposes of selling cannabis at a minors-prohibited entertainment event or cannabis industry trade show. Municipalities must also sign on to the change, which Edmonton did last year.

“What this is is creating a legal business process that is in line with legislation from the provincial government,” Councillor Penner told her fellow councillors before today’s vote. “What is already happening is cannabis is being consumed at 18 plus, adult-only festivals and events.”

“What this isn’t is creating an open and permissive environment to use cannabis at those festivals. We already have regulation that defines where it can be used. So it’s not about a puff of smoke or a waft of smoke that you’re walking through. It is simply about creating a safer environment for sales on sites, just as we create a safe sales environment for alcohol. This is a legal substance where adults are making adult choices on what they choose to consume.”

“This is really about [regulation] and policy and not about the judgement we should be passing on people for what they choose to do as adults,” she added.

Councillors Mclean, Wyness, Dhaliwal, Chu, Sharp, and Chabot voted against the motion.

City staff will now need to bring such proposed changes back to council for consideration at a future date.

Currently, ​​cannabis sales at events in Calgary must be made through an order-and-delivery method. In 2024, a Calgary cannabis retailer hosted a cannabis consumption space at the Badlands Music Festival, which included the ability to buy cannabis. Festival-goes could place an order on the retailer’s website, and the product would be delivered to the festival’s cannabis garden.

February 25, 2025 | David Brown

After showing signs of slowing down, Canada’s retail cannabis sales shot up to their highest level so far in December 2024, at just under half a billion dollars in one month.

Cannabis sales in December ($499.7 million) surpassed the previous high of $475.5 million in August 2024, and even exceeded the previous high of $469 million in August 2023.

All of these figures are non-seasonally adjusted; seasonally adjusted sales numbers are somewhat lower. Statistics Canada also adjusts its numbers over time, depending on data quality. The most recent sales figures are rated as “C: good”, the lowest of three ratings for data quality.

Unsurprisingly, retail sales were highest in Ontario, Canada’s most populated province, followed by Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec.

Overall retail sales saw steep declines in early 2024, largely driven by declines in Ontario’s reported sales figures. While declines in sales after the holiday shopping season are expected, other provinces did not show a similar decline. If past sales history is repeated, expect significant declines in sales in January and February 2025.

December 2024 monthly retail cannabis sales were up $51.1 million year-over-year (YOY) compared to December 2023. This compares to:

• December 2022-December 2023: $22.8 million YOY increase
• December 2021-December 2022: $71.6 million YOY increase
• December 2020-December 2021: $57 million YOY increase
• December 2019-December 2020: $149.5 million YOY increase

Stratcann.com | February 24, 2025 | Staff

Wholesale cannabis sales in BC in the last three months of 2024 (Q3 2024) were $146.9 million, up 7.5% from the same period in 2023, but down slightly from the previous quarter ($147.2).

The province wholesaled 38,727,543 grams of cannabis in October, November, and December 2024. The average price of all cannabis products continued to decline to $3.79 per gram, while the average price of dried flower also reached its lowest yet at $3.14 a gram. 

At the end of the reporting period, there were 512 retail cannabis stores in BC, up from 510 in the previous quarter and 496 in Q3 2023. 

Sales of 1, 3.5, and 14/15 gram SKUs declined year-over-year by 8.4%, 24.3%, and 0.9%, respectively, while sales of 7-gram SKUs increased by 26% and 28-gram SKUs increased by 7.2%.

The total grams sold for 1-gram and 3.5-gram SKUs declined by 9.6% and 19.8%, respectively. However, the total grams sold for 7-gram SKUs increased by 33.4%, while 14/15-gram SKUs increased by 6.8%, and 28-gram SKUs increased by 8.3%.

Inhalable extracts sales were $55.4 million, cannabis flower was $44.2 million, and pre-rolls were $31.9 million.

Edibles sales totalled $7.8 million, while ingestible extracts (capsules and oils) were $4.2 million, and beverages were $2.7 million. 

Topicals sales were $751,403, and seeds were just $5,600. 

Inhalable extract sales increased by 15.7% year-over-year, and units sold increased by 13.8%. Dried flower sales increased by just 0.8%, while units sold decreased by 1.7%.

Beverage sales increased year-over-year by 18.5% and 12% by units sold, while pre-rolls sales increased by 8.2% and units sold increased by 9%.

Edibles sales increased year-over-year by 2.1%, while units sold increased by 18.9%. 

Disposable vape pen sales increased by a whopping 193.9% year-over-year and 92.6% in terms of units sold (258,418 units sold), continuing an ongoing trend. Sales of infused pre-rolls increased by 19.3%. 

Sales in BC’s direct delivery program, which allows some BC cannabis companies to ship directly to retailers, bypassing the provincial central warehouse, showed quarterly increases following several previous declines. 

While the total grams sold of cannabis (including equivalence) through the program were down 21.1% year-over-year at 554,102 grams, this figure was up from the 484,000 grams sold in the previous quarter, reversing an earlier trend. 

Similarly, wholesale sales through the direct delivery program were down 19.8% year-over-year to $2.5 million, up from the $2.3 million sold in the previous quarter.

The average price of cannabis sold in the program was $4.58, up from $4.51 in Q3 2023, but down from $4.79 in the previous quarter. 

The average price of dried flower in direct delivery was $3.91, down from $3.93 in the same quarter last year, but down from $4.34 in the previous quarter of 2024. 

Sales of cannabis edibles and beverages were $57,047 in Q3 2024, up from $47,831 in Q2 and $16,169 in Q3 2023. 

Sales of cannabis flower were $1.20 million, down from $1.24 in the previous quarter and $1.9 million in the same quarter last year. 

Ingestible extracts sales in terms of dollars sold increased by 20.9% year-over-year, inhalable extracts increased by 89.9%, pre-rolls declined by 38%, seeds declined by 67.4%, and topicals increased by 94.5%.

January 30, 2025 | David Brown