Canada - Pot companies reel from week of bloodletting as darker clouds loom

[S.J.B.]

Pot companies reel from week of bloodletting as darker clouds loom
David George-Cosh
BNN Bloomberg
November 15th, 2019

It was one of the worst weeks for the legal cannabis sector since pot became legal in Canada.

After more than a dozen Canadian-based pot companies reported quarterly results over the past five days, it became increasingly clear the risks that had faced the industry have manifested themselves, resulting in what one analyst described as a “bloodletting.” A lack of legal retail stores, notably in Ontario, combined with a glut of cannabis held by provincial wholesalers and a decline in prices, led to a series of disappointments for investors.

The results were staggering: Half of those companies - including leading producers Canopy Growth Corp. and Aurora Cannabis Inc. - reported sequential revenue declines, and no publicly-traded company was immune from a broad investor selloff in the space. The top five cannabis companies on the market – Canopy, Aurora, Aphria Inc., Tilray Inc., and Cronos Group Inc. – saw a total of $5 billion in market capitalization disappear, according to Bloomberg data.

“What you’ve seen is a market that is uncertain on where to go from here,” said Michael Singer, executive chairman of Aurora Cannabis, in an interview with BNN Bloomberg.

Analysts widely believe that the worst isn’t over, despite the upcoming launch of next-generation cannabis products in December. Pot companies are betting ‘cannabis 2.0’ will bring greater revenues than what the gains they have seen in the first year of legalization.

Read the full story here.

 

[sekio]

Guess what, with legal weed at $12+ a gram, I'm gonna call my buddy who can do it for $4 every damn time.

 

[SunriseChampion]

I'd say it's been a bit botched. Supply shortages, retail location shortages (I don't even know how many shops there are in Toronto, but I do know it's not nearly enough), the friggin prices!
A lot of my friends smoke weed. I'd say maybe 10% of them get their weed legally 25% of the time.

In Ontario anyway, the former government really should have started by running sales out of LCBO locations (including licensees).

I strongly dislike weed so none of this personally affects me, but I do say I'm rather happy to see people just smoking up wherever in the streets instead of the old paranoid and dodgy hiding in the shadows days.

 

[JackARoe]

I am in London Ontario at the moment and am going to try and purchase some from a store front. I could not do that last March. It had to be mailed. So the dragging this whole thing out is making people tired.

Also they have to do away with that warning on the containers that it "may cause psychosis". Not very becoming and at this point we should all know the fire from the ice. We don't have to protect everyone if we think that they can not think for themselves.

 

[S.J.B.]

The biggest problem is a lack of storefronts, and the second is the prices. At least prices are starting to go down with the increase in inventory. However, the $1-per-gram minimum tax is going to be a real barrier to heavy price competition. Hopefully the government will realize that and nix it. The 10-mg-THC-per-package maximum for edibles is also very detrimental to increasing the legal system's market share.

 

[JackARoe]

The 10-mg-THC-per-package maximum for edibles is also very detrimental to increasing the legal system's market share.

I went into a store called Cannabis Supply Company and the woman said she still does not have the credentials to sell it out of a store.

10 mgs. does nothing when I eat it. I need about 40 and even then it is still not the same as smoking.

 

[thujone]

Lack of stores in ON sucks but it was because of a last-minute decision to fix the fuckass way the previous government was planning on. I think in the long-run it will play out better this way than if it were just limited to being sold in the liquor stores.

I'm not surprised Canopy and Aurora are falling from grace, there was too much investment hype for these and their products *suck*. I buy legally lately because I don't toke enough to bother waiting on mail delivery and consciously avoid these ditchweed pushers

 

[JackARoe]

Lack of stores in ON sucks but it was because of a last-minute decision to fix the fuckass way the previous government was planning on. I think in the long-run it will play out better this way than if it were just limited to being sold in the liquor stores

Initially I was upset when NY did not legalize because they could not agree. They wanted avoid to problems California is having simply because they wanted it all legal right away. So as we see it is not cut and dry and there are many things to consider.

 

[TripSitterNZ]

Been watching Canadian and american state legalization since we get to vote next year. I can get the same high quality strains here in new zealand on the streets for cheaper than they sell them in legal stores overseas. I also do not support rich cunts corporations trying to monopolize cannabis like tobacco. Honestly all these pot companies can burn and crash rich bastards are already trying to gear up here and monopolize. Edible limits are something i dont want to see 10 mg is very low. Homemade edibles here are quite strong and when i made some had me still stoned 14 hours later. If i weigh and take a conservative guess that my nugs would be 20% thc min the amount in edibles people eat here on average are above 200 mg +

 

[SunriseChampion]

Also they have to do away with that warning on the containers that it "may cause psychosis".

I disagree. I have a friend who has thrown himself into lasting mental illness through weed smoking. He had a genetic predisposition to it, but the fact remains. I'd be more on the side of adding warnings to liquor. Like how it metabolises into acetaldehyde which is unhealthy af.

 

[Zonxx]

Been watching Canadian and american state legalization since we get to vote next year. I can get the same high quality strains here in new zealand on the streets for cheaper than they sell them in legal stores overseas. I also do not support rich cunts corporations trying to monopolize cannabis like tobacco. Honestly all these pot companies can burn and crash rich bastards are already trying to gear up here and monopolize. Edible limits are something i dont want to see 10 mg is very low. Homemade edibles here are quite strong and when i made some had me still stoned 14 hours later. If i weigh and take a conservative guess that my nugs would be 20% thc min the amount in edibles people eat here on average are above 200 mg +

yeah it's all fun and games till you get passed what you think is a cookie like i was once upon a time, and there i was, took a bite which was pretty much the whole cookie causes im a piggie, and then my friend goes "WAIT, I FORGOT TO MENTION.." and i'm just standing there thinking "but ...it was such a good cookie" welllllp boi lemme tell ya i've been suspicious of friends giving me snacks ever since

 

[Viraldrome]

The biggest problem is a lack of storefronts, and the second is the prices.

Neither of those factors is the primary reason why I purchase "black market' weed. In Calgary there are lots of stores. My concern is the quality. No legal weed, and I have tried quite a few, tastes right. Its way too dry and it doesn't smell right either. And its weak. There is no legal pot in Canada that could compete at the cannabis cup. I've been to Amsterdam, and while it varies from coffee shop to coffee shop the best shops have buds that are in a different league. Its shocking to me that legal weed in Canada was fucked up this badly, BC has world class growers who are shut out by high start up costs (you need a vault and insane security FFS).

The majority of legal weed is mass produced in Ontario. We should have craft growers and micro producers, good cannabis never comes from a giant facility. You have to choose to produce good buds or lots of buds. Greed won. The only way to change this corporate mindset is a boycott. They seem quite tone deaf, like not one strain is even marketed as organic, a category of weed that is the majority of buds in US dispensaries, at least in the ones I have been to. I cannot buy cannabis that isn't irradiated, or maybe it there some that isn't, in which case they should be promoting it. I care about this stuff. The attitude seems to be its legal and I should just be thankful. Hell I can't even name an LP that breeds their own, they either just flat out steal dutch/US/BC genetics or they slap a new name on someone else's breeding work and pretend they bred it. There is no innovation, nothing is special about legal bud here. They spend time creating stupid lifestyle brands, its cringy. I don't smoke something because the marketing team came up with some edgy name that is supposed to appeal to my age group.

What should have happened is the government should have gave out 20 thousand production licenses and each store grew their own, instead every store in the country from coast to coast has the same mass produced shit. When I go to Amsterdam its endless choices because its decentralized, not giant producers mass growing crap. Canada's system is probably unfixable to be honest. The low mg edibles are pretty much the nail in the coffin. I can have high potency edibles in my mailbox in 24 hours. I'm on a diet I cannot eat 25 cookies for just for a buzz, like sorry someone's else's kid ate one and got sick but that is no reason for this nanny state bullshit. I heard all the pot stock "experts" go on and on about sq footage and capacity and none of them ever mention quality. I don't go the greenhouse in Amsterdam because they grow the most, I don't care. No consumer cares. I could accept these prices if it was AAAA. This stuff is C grade, the last time i bought some i paid 49 dollars for 1/8, that is a price unheard of in the underground. Sorry for the rant, I thought legal weed was going to be awesome, now i just hope my local Native rez starts up a toke shack

 

[FuckinAcidMan]

Dude canada seriously fucked up the weed legalization. The impaired driving laws for weed are insane as well.

 

[someguyoz]

Dude canada seriously fucked up the weed legalization. The impaired driving laws for weed are insane as well.

Ha couldn't be worse than Australia. I'm one of the few who received federal Govt approval to be prescribed pharmaceutically produced 1:1 THC/CBD for severe 19yrs of chronic pain and we have trace mouth swab roadside>urine testing here. ANY trace even 000.01% and I will be arrested, lose my car licence permanently and be subject to mandatory jail. Even though the dose I consume has no psychoactive effect whatsoever.

In other words, the Govt expects anyone on treatment to never drive ever again.