The Ontario Cannabis Store rapidly ran out of marijuana edibles within hours of them going on sale on Thursday in Ontario.
The OCS ushered in a new era dubbed Cannabis 2.0 at 9 a.m. on Thursday in Canada’s largest province with its online sales of edibles. It reported around 3,000 customers were waiting in its “digital lobby” at 8.59 a.m. as they desperately sought to snap up the new products.
The province-owned online retailer had 2,000 transactions in the first hour after listing its first 70 new products for sale. They included cannabis-infused cookies, chocolates, chews, mints, tea, and vapes, a move made possible by Health Canada’s decision to legalize vapes, edibles, beverages, and other concentrates in October 2019.
The federal agency spent the ensuing months processing licensing applications and Cannabis 2.0 began in Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick last month. Larger provinces are now starting to join the party, but supply issues are expected to persist for some time.
OCS communications director Daffyd Roderick revealed that soft chews were sold out in less than half an hour on Thursday, while all edibles were gone by 2 p.m. Roderick added that there was still a reasonable stock of vape cartridges available.
Vaping has received terrible press over the past six months due to the outbreak of a lung illness that killed dozens and left more than 1,000 people with injuries. It has been linked to Vitamin E acetate, which was used as a thickening agent in illicit THC vape cartridges sold on the black market, but the legal market has also suffered as a result.
Producers are hoping that Cannabis 2.0 will galvanize the market after Canada saw sluggish sales during the first year of legal recreational cannabis. Vaping may not be the answer in the current climate, but edibles have been off to a flying start and the potential for significant growth appears strong.
OCS is also the wholesale distributor for the province and it said its ecommerce site will only be replenished once retail cannabis stores have been given their fair share of the available inventory. “We know the licensed producers are working hard to make more products available and we’re confident that these growing pains will be moved through in relatively short order,” said Roderick.
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