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Are More B.C. Tokers Finally Looking To Legal Cannabis Over
Pubdate: Fri, 24 Jul 2020
Source: Victoria News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2020 Black Press
Contact: http://www.vicnews.com/contact_us/
Website: http://www.vicnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1267
Author: Ashley Wadhwani
ARE MORE B.C. TOKERS FINALLY LOOKING TO LEGAL CANNABIS OVER THE ILLEGAL MARKET?
A recent poll suggests 51 per cent of British Columbians are buying
all product legally
B.C. has had a difficult road to getting cannabis users interested in
purchasing from legal retailers over their neighbourhood dealer, but a
recent poll suggests that the province may finally be winning the
battle over bud.
A Research Co. poll released earlier this month found that 51 per cent
of B.C. respondents who have consumed cannabis in the past six months
have bought all of their products from licensed retailers. That's an
18-point increase from a similar survey conducted in October 2019.
About 20 per cent of the 800 respondents surveyed said that "most" or
"some" of their cannabis was obtained at a licensed retailer, while 16
per cent admitted to purchasing only through illegal dealers or
unlicensed retailers.
It's been just shy of two years since cannabis became legal and nearly
a year since edible cannabis products hit store shelves.
Premier John Horgan has acknowledged that the black market is still
here, and the "grey market" that worked through medical dispensaries
and compassion clubs, is greatly endangered.
One disadvantage is price, with Statistics Canada estimating that
legal cannabis is running close to $10 a gram, while illegal product
is selling for half that.
Through the last several months, licensed private and public cannabis
retail sales have continued to steadily rise in B.C.
Forty-five per cent of respondents said they have never tried
cannabis, while 10 per cent said they used it only after it became
legal.
Twenty-six per cent still don't agree it should be legal in the
country.
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MAP posted-by: Matt