Legal marijuana prices have dropped 40% in Nova Scotia since 2019
CBC
Falling cannabis prices are taking a bite out of the illicit market in Nova Scotia, according to the province's official cannabis retailer.
"The whole intent of legalization was to make an impact on the illicit market," said Bev Ware, a spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Liquor Corp.
Ware said the average price of a single gram of marijuana in Nova Scotia now stands at $6.50, down by nearly 40 per cent since legalization in 2018.
But it's a stable supply of one-ounce packages of cannabis, some selling for as low as $110, "that helps compete with the illicit market," Ware said.
Financial figures from the NSLC's second quarter show cannabis sales up roughly 20 per cent, to a total of $26.6 million, while average cannabis prices dropped by 13 per cent.
This means that while Nova Scotia customers were buying more cannabis each trip to the NSLC, they were paying about 12 per cent less.
"The last couple of price reviews, suppliers have been reducing their prices, and they're also offering us more value-priced products to offer to our customers," Ware said.
While raw cannabis flower accounts for roughly 60 per cent of NSLC cannabis sales, over half of that is now in one-ounce packages, close to the maximum size permitted under federal law.
Ware said another factor is the opening of 18 new NSLC cannabis stores in the past year, allowing more Nova Scotians to conveniently purchase from official sources.
Ware said while customers are faithful to their favourite alcoholic drinks, cannabis sales are driven by price and strength.
"There isn't brand loyalty with cannabis ... So what customers are looking at is price and THC — high THC content and a reasonable price," she said.
The only exception to that trend is with Nova Scotia-grown cannabis, which she said sells for "more of a premium price," and accounts for about 21 per cent of the provincial market.
"Nova Scotians will pay a little bit extra for that quality local Nova Scotia product," she said.
David Brown, a former Health Canada cannabis policy analyst who provides regulatory advice to Canadian cannabis companies, said falling prices are a universal trend.
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