Legal pot is expensive.
According to federal agency Statistics Canada, the legalization of marijuana has driven the price of the recreational drug up 17% over the past six months. Worse, Canadians buying cannabis products through legal channels are spending, on average, 57% more than people who continue to acquire the drug on the black market.
On average, Canadians paid $6.85 per gram for dried cannabis prior to legalization. Since the drug became legal in Canada on October 17, 2018, the average price has jumped to $8.04 per gram, which is a 17.3% increase.
Today, Canadians who buy legal marijuana pay an average of $9.99 a gram, while those continuing to buy from illegal sources pay an average of $6.37 a gram. That's a price gap of almost 57%. The price of legal marijuana has increased in every province across the country since the drug became legal.
Meanwhile, the illegal price of cannabis is falling throughout Canada, and is now down to $6.37 a gram, on average, from $6.79 per gram before legalization, according to Statistics Canada. The most expensive place to buy marijuana is in a government-run store, where the average price is $10.73 per gram.
Among the provinces, the price of cannabis is highest in Newfoundland and Labrador, at an average of $9.36 a gram. That's up by almost 22% from where it was before legalization. The price of marijuana in British Columbia, meanwhile, has barely budged since legalization last fall, continuing to hover around $7 per gram.
