There were lineups outside stores on the Atlantic Coast, a “Wake and Bake” in Toronto and midnight celebrations as Canada became the first Group of Seven country to legalize cannabis for recreational use on Wednesday, giving it a massive head start in developing a global pot market that some analysts peg at $150 billion.
Stores in St. John’s, Newfoundland were the first to sell recreational cannabis, followed by more than 100 outlets and websites opening across the country of 37 million people. It’s an historic moment for an industry that has rapidly moved from the fringe to the mainstream.
“The eyes of the world are on Canada and Canadians should feel very proud, because people have been fighting for decades to make this moment a reality,” said Brendan Kennedy, chief executive officer of Tilray Inc., the largest cannabis company by market value.
Canada is the second country in the world to legalize recreational pot nationally after Uruguay. As a result, it has become the front-runner in the global cannabis industry, expected to reach $32 billion in consumer spending alone by 2022, according to Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics. The entire global market, meanwhile, could eventually be worth $150 billion, according to estimates from Roth Capital Partners.
First Sale
Medical marijuana has been legal in Canada since 2001 but it’s only been about four years since the first cannabis companies began to list on Canadian exchanges. In that short time, about 140 pot companies have gone public in Canada, with a combined market value of more than C$60 billion ($48 billion).
Alicia Wright, 38, was the first customer to buy pot at the NSLC Cannabis store in Halifax, Nova Scotia shelling out about C$45 for 3.5 grams of pot and a grinder. The lineup was about 130-people deep by the time the store opened at 10 a.m. local time. The mood was celebratory as a store manager walked down the line telling everyone to have ID ready and another man handed out coupons to a coffee shop down the street.
“I was happy to see vaporizers here because I know that combustion is really maybe not the top choice for a lot of people, so there’s a variety of ways to consume,” Wright said. She’s hoping to see more variety in the future. “I’ve benefited from oil, so I was hoping that would be an option today. It’s not but I know that it’s coming."
On Toronto’s Queen Street West, the party started early as the Friendly Stranger cannabis culture shop hosted a “Wake ’n bake” with breakfast burritos and coffee, a fire pit and what they dubbed Canada’s first community toke.
“We’ve accomplished our mandate," said Robin Ellins, co-founder of the retail store. “Friendly Stranger was created as a vehicle to educate and raise awareness of cannabis issues to bring about legalization."