Michael Armstrong, Associate Professor of Operations Research in Brock’s Goodman School of Business, had a piece published in The Globe and Mail Friday, Feb. 7 about differing strategies employed by Canadian provinces to make legal cannabis sales competitive with the black market.

Armstrong writes:

“Statistics Canada last month released new estimates of provincial cannabis retail sales and prices. The figures show legal cannabis is making progress, but still has far to go to surpass black markets. So, it’s worth examining what some provinces are getting right and what others could learn from.

 Stores represent one obvious success factor. Canada’s cannabis consumers have shown they prefer buying in-store rather than online. So, more licensed stores generally mean more legal sales.

November’s retail sales data include an example of that. The respectable 5-per-cent growth in total sales was mostly owing to British Columbia. Its sales jumped 47 per cent, presumably thanks to the 36-per-cent increase in store licences there the month before.”

Globe and Mail subscribers can read the full article here.