Canadians bought $54 million of marijuana from retail stores in the first full month after the recreational drug was legalized, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
Statistics Canada’s figure for November follows an earlier estimate that legal marijuana sales totaled $43 million in the first two weeks after legalization occurred on October 17. The Ottawa- based agency added marijuana to its standard monthly reports on retail sales as part of a wider effort to update the nation’s economic accounts.
The potential for a market worth between $5.5 billion and $10 billion a year created a boom in the value of producers such as Canopy Growth Corp. (TSX: WEED) and Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB). Canada became the first Group of Seven industrialized nation to legalize the recreational drug as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said prohibition was a failed system that gave profits to criminal gangs and allowed rampant youth consumption.
Statistics Canada’s numbers may understate things because sales in Ontario, the most populous province, are limited to online orders until 25 retail stores open this April. Stores in other provinces also ran out of some products and consumer choices are being limited because edible marijuana products remain illegal for the time being.
