Nova Scotia has long been an enthusiastic cannabis consumer.
With the early debut of edibles in Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation stores—launching across a dozen stores on Dec. 23 while Ontario had to wait until this week—the Maritime province was rewarded for its passion for cannabis.
The reward didn’t last long, however. Consumers hungry for edibles along with those grabbing the products up as Christmas gifts cleared the shelves within days of their appearance.
Some stores were completely out of edibles by the end of the first day, while the entire province was “almost out” of edibles by Dec. 27.
Soon talk turned to restocking.
The first drought of the edibles supply shortage ended in Nova Scotia on Friday, Jan. 2, and edibles became available via the NSLC’s online portal on Jan. 6. However, NSLC Cannabis spokeswoman Beverly Ware told Global News, “It is a limited delivery and that’s expected to be the case for a while.”
The NSLC joined other provincial regulators in warning consumers supplies will be short as the rollout gets up speed, and experts noted producers face different (and in some cases more challenging) obstacles bringing edible products to market than they did with dry flower or oils.
The NSLC, Nova Scotia’s Crown cannabis monopoly, attracted criticism this fall when it requested $3M in additional funding to retrofit twelve stores with refrigeration and additional shelving in preparation for carrying edibles and beverages.
Less than a year before, the NSLC spent more than $11M retrofitting the same twelve stores to add specialty cannabis sections to 11 while turning one into a standalone cannabis retailer.
Karen Casey, the minister responsible for the NSLC, explained the corporation could not renovate to meet edibles regulations last year as the federal government had not yet set regulations pertaining to edibles prior to the first wave of legalization.
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