Adult-Use Sales Up, Medical Sales Down In Canada

Total cannabis flower sales in Canada rose 7 percent from April to May; however, the spike is due to adult-use sales as flower sales in the medical market dropped 20 percent, according to Health Canada figures outlined by the Canadian Press.

In all, legal cannabis retailers sold 9,495 kilograms (about 20,933 pounds) of flower in May, up from 8,874 in April.

Only concentrate sales appeared completely safe from a decline, with a 19.2 percent increase averaged between both the adult-use (18.7 percent) and medical cannabis (19.5 percent) sectors.

The inventory of unfinished flower grew 21.7 percent from April to May with inventories reaching 224,037 kilograms (about 493, 917 pounds), while unfinished concentrate inventories dropped 10.7 percent to 42,350 liters; finished oil inventory increased, however, by 18.3 percent.

The rise in adult-use cannabis spending on flower comes on the heels of a Statistics Canada report that found illegal cannabis products are, on average, $4.72 cheaper per gram than their legal counterparts. The report found that illegal prices have dropped from $6.23 per gram to $5.93 per gram since the start of the year, while legal product prices fell from $10.65 per gram to $10.23 per gram.

In October, Canada will begin allowing sales of “alternative cannabis products” such as edibles, topicals, and tinctures but are not expected to hit store shelves until December. Those products will not be available nationwide, however, as Quebec has banned infused sweets and topicals “for the moment” and also passed a broader ban on any “product attractive to minors” including candies, confections, and desserts. 

The drop in medical cannabis sales coincides with a survey from Canadians for Fair Access in which one in four respondents said medical cannabis was harder to obtain post-legalization.