• The average gram of legal REC sold for $10.30 between October and December, according to Statistics Canada. A year ago, that average was $9.69. A gram of illicit cannabis sold for an average of $5.73 in the same period, down from $6.44 a year before.
  CBC News
• Between October and December, Canadians spent $1.5 Billion on cannabis, and 38.2% of that trade was on the legal market. The average price of REC (legal and illegal) rose slightly from $7.46 to $7.50 per gram.

• Some argued StatsCan's numbers wer questionable because they relied on crowd-sourced, self-reported numbers—particularly for data on legal prices, which could be derived from retailer data. Others complained StatsCan's crowdsourcing form is fails to mention illicit-market products and legal 2.0 products.
  Twitter—Michael J Armstrong, Patrick Cain, Matt Lamers
• Experts unsurprisingly suggested LPs should lower their prices.

• BC reported a 47% increase in sales, likely connected to the 36% increase in retail licenses it granted between September and October.
  Twitter—David George-Cosh, Michael J Armstrong

• A Mackie Research Capital analyst warned the majority of licensed parties weren't ready for the launch of new 2.0 products, which are limited in variety and far more expensive than illicit edibles. For that reasons, LPs' early 2.0 products "are not yet competitive with the black market."
  MJ Biz Daily

• Another commentator noted the BC Liquor Distribution Branch warehouse in which REC products will be kept reaches summer temperatures in the mid-30s. "No refrigeration. Regs state [edibles] must be 6 [months] shelf stable. Summer will be a good time."
  Twitter—Aaron W. Anderson, MJ Biz Daily

• Across the country, gummies (also called "soft chews") are selling fastest. Ryan Roch of Alberta REC store Lake City Cannabis reported, "Gummies are King and a lot of people don't like chocolate."
  Twitter—Ryan Roch
• Cannalyst Craig "GoBlueCDN" Wiggins surmised "the [dollar] cost to get high (versus the taste experience) is going be more of a driver (or headwind) of edibles competing against flower in the legal market."
  Twitter—GoBlueCDN

• Canopy's social-purpose initiative, called Tweed Collective, is accepting submissions from non-profits, charities, and business-improvement-areas to receive support.

• The deal, which diluted the company's outstanding shares, wasn't popular with shareholders.
• Aphria also finally received its EU-GMP certification, allowing it to export MED flower and oil to the EU. The company originally intended to obtain such certification early last year. The delay means its rivals are already shipping to Germany.
  MJ Biz Daily

• The Global story above originally contained quotes from Maurizio Terrigno, founder of Calgary's Canadian Cannabis Chamber, who said the company was hurt by cost overruns, inefficiencies, and crop failure, while its products are "average at best."
  Twitter—Mark Spear
• Some insiders took issue with Terrigno's comments, with one lawyer implying they were slanderous, while others criticised Global for running them without confirmation. Global ultimately removed them from the story and apologized.
  Twitter—Trina Fraser, Cameron Bishop, Matt Maurer, David George-Cosh
• Terrigno has previously been in the news after his brother Mike allegedly followed and threatened a Calgary city planner and two other people during debate over rezoning plans for their family's luxury restaurant, which Maurizio managed.
  Calgary Herald, Vancouver Sun

• RBC was criticized in October for closing the accounts of legal REC businesses. TD and BMO are rumoured to be making similar moves. Scotiabank and CIBC each said they evaluate companies to whom they loan "on a case-by-case basis."
  CBC Newfoundland and Labrador, Twitter—Lisa Campbell, BonBon7676
• Analysts said this much was inevitable: LPs have struggled for profitability and banks don't want to invest in unprofitable companies.
  Twitter—GoBlueCDN, Matt Maurer
• Insiders suggest cannabiz people consider credit unions.

Quick Hits

1. Under creditor protection, LP AgMedica Bioscience announced a Sale and Investment Solicitation Process (SISP) to solicit interest in restructuring or refinancing the business, sales of assets, or sales of the business.
   NewsWire

• Yet Cannalyst Andrew "MollyTime" Udell stressed few REC retailers have the cash on hand to open more than a few stores at a time. Though with 50.1% ownership by convenience store giant Couche Tard, Fire & Flower is the best prepared to open more stores.
• To that end, Meta announced an agreement with Echelon Wealth Partners to sell that company $10M worth of stock. Proceeds will be used to expand the company's Ontario retail offerings.
  NewsWire
• Meta also announced it would no longer sell its MED clinics to Evergreen Pacific Insurance Corporation, as originally planned.
  Cannabis Retailer
• In New Brunswick, MED advocates are circulating a petition calling on the government to "save medical dispensaries" by licensing stores in a free-market system, rather than selling crown REC retail monopoly Cannabis NB to a single private operator.
  Country 94

• Ontario continued expanding its OCS delivery service, and Pineapple Express general manager Sarah Seale called for driver applications in the GTA.
  Twitter—Sarah Seale
• The Super Anytime REC e-commerce platform launched in Manitoba, offering consumers the option to select products from a variety of different REC stores, and have those products delivered by a third party.
  NewsWire, Winnipeg Free Press

• Even those habituated to pay-to-play find it becoming excessive in the sector, even as in other sectors speakers and moderators are often paid themselves.
  Twitter—David Hyde, Jamie Shaw

Quick Hits

1. MED activist Ashley Keenan broke down what MED users need to know about medical cannabis in the workplace.
   Leafly
2. REC retailers argued BC municipalities that veto REC stores are creating "cannabis deserts" and infringing on Canadians' rights to access legal REC.
   Vancouver Sun

• I interviewed Roach for Leafly as she prepared for two weeks of vacation before beginning her new position.
  Leafly
• Roach, a frequent critic of the provincial legalization rollout, will put her money where her mouth is as a senior category manager at the Ontario Cannabis Store.
  GrowthOp
• Though it's moved twice, the HotBox has remained on the same block in Toronto's Kensington Market since it opened in 2000. If you've been in Toronto for an industry trade show, there's a good chance you attended an afterparty there.

Quick Hits

1. McMaster University microbiologists showed cannabinoid CBG may fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
   The Guardian
2. Veterans Affairs is considering expanding its coverage of MED products to include 2.0 products legalized last fall. In particular, it may expand its medical-device reimbursements for vaporizers (originally for dry flower) to include vape pens that contain oil.
   CBC PEI, Globe and Mail

• After four robberies in which REC store employees were threatened with a weapon and assaulted, Edmonton police arrested two men and laid 60 charges.
  CBC Edmonton
• A third suspect remains at large, and police are looking for tips to identify him.
  CityNews, CTV News
• People still rob unlicensed dispensaries, too.
  Straight Cannabis

Quick Hits

1. Though the judge lectured them for knowingly breaking the 2018 Cannabis Act, more than two dozen people arrested in London, ON dispensary raids in 2018 were given discharges that did not leave them with criminal records.
   London Free Press
2. An Ontario man once convicted of mischief and other minor offences didn't start getting hassled by US Customs and Border Protection guards until he got pardons for his offences. Before, border guards could see what his offences were, but now they can only see that he was convicted of something and pardoned.
   Global News

• The $361,459.49 total, paid for out of provincial funds, consisted of the cost of the blocks and equipment with which to move them, as well as the labour of structural engineers, city workers, and on-site security.
• In some cases the blocks needed to be installed multiple times as dispensary supporters procured heavy equipment to remove them.
  Daily Hive
• The blocks—which eventually got their own Twitter account—didn't stop dispensaries from operating, as some simply sold REC on the sidewalk outside. Even today, many of the dispensaries decorated with cement blocks last summer are still in operation.
  CTV News