{"id":2657,"date":"2021-11-26T21:20:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-26T21:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/wp-home\/?p=186338"},"modified":"2021-11-26T21:20:00","modified_gmt":"2021-11-26T21:20:00","slug":"pot-shop-panic-plagues-the-canadian-cannabis-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=2657","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Pot shop\u2019 panic plagues the Canadian cannabis industry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <title>&#8216;Pot shop&#8217; panic plagues the Canadian cannabis industry &#8211; Leafly<\/title>     <!-- This is Index Exchange, a script\/\/3rd-party integration that interjects GAM. It needs to be 'ahead' of GTM in the DOM, which comes from Cephalopod. GTM loads GAM. This script needs to setup it's interjection stuff before GAM loads. --> <!-- End Index Exchange --> <!-- Quotes = strings--><!-- No quotes = boolean-->\t   <!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v17.5 (Yoast SEO v17.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->                  <!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. --> <\/p>\n<p> <!-- BEGIN Sailthru Horizon Meta Information --><\/p>\n<p><!-- END Sailthru Horizon Meta Information -->  <!-- Google Publisher Tag --> <!-- End Google Publisher Tag --> <!-- Google Tag Manager --> <!-- End Google Tag Manager --> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat --><br \/>\n <!-- Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->   <\/p>\n<div id=\"copy_clipboard_success\" class=\"fixed top-0 left-0 right-0\">\n<div class=\"bg-white p-lg container mt-xl flex justify-between elevation-low rounded\"> <span class=\"flex items-center\">     <span class=\"ml-md\">Link copied to your clipboard<\/span> <\/span> <button id=\"copy_clipboard_close_btn\">    <\/button> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <!-- End Google Tag Manager (noscript) -->   <title>Leafly<\/title>     <title>Leafly \u00ae<\/title>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              <title>Loading\u2026<\/title>          <\/p>\n<div class=\"bg-white fixed flex hidden inset-0 items-start md:h-auto md:items-center overflow-auto\" id=\"age-gate-container\">\n<div class=\"bg-white md:h-auto mx-auto p-lg text-sm w-full\" id=\"age-gate\">\n<p><label for=\"select-country\">Where are you from?<\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"age-gate__info\">\n<p><label for=\"select-province\">Which part of Canada?<\/label><\/p>\n<div class=\"age-gate__age hidden\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"error error--underage hidden\">Darn! You&#8217;re not old enough to use Leafly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"error error--unavailable hidden\">Sorry, Leafly isn&#8217;t available in your location yet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"hidden age-gate__loading\">Redirecting you to<span class=\"redirect-domain\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-xs mt-auto\">By accessing this site, you accept<br \/>\nthe <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"tou-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.ca\/info\/terms-of-use\">Terms of Use<\/a><br \/>\nand <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"pp-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.ca\/info\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"container my-xl\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col md:col-9\" id=\"article-content\">\n<p>Politicians are panicking about retail cannabis\u2014the industry is not amused.<\/p>\n<p>In the last month or two, local news reporters across Ontario have emerged from the pandemic and seemingly noticed, to some shock, that cannabis retail has exploded. <\/p>\n<p>There are 1000+ licensed stores in Ontario, and just over 2700 across Canada. These cannabis retail stores\u2014which mainstream media insist on calling pot shops\u2014are often concentrated in urban, commercial areas. <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Are there too many pot shops in your neighbourhood?<\/p>\n<p><cite>reads a Toronto Star headline.<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>But unlike other businesses, like convenience stores or coffee shops, the spread of cannabis retail has been treated as a cause for concern among residents and politicians.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre there too many pot shops in your neighbourhood?\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/business\/2021\/10\/27\/are-there-too-many-pot-shops-in-your-neighbourhood-davenport-mpp-is-pushing-to-limit-number-cannabis-retailers-in-a-given-area.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">asks the Toronto Star<\/a>; \u201cHarsh reality setting in for cannabis merchants as pot shops multiply,\u201d writes the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/two-toronto-councillors-ontario-government-new-cannabis-retail-licences-1.6240599\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CBC<\/a>. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bnnbloomberg.ca\/expect-some-ontario-pot-stores-to-close-in-2022-analyst-1.1676626\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bloomberg<\/a>, we hear that analysts are \u201cbeginning to sound the alarm.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>You get the point. <\/p>\n<p>But is Ontario\u2019s cannabis retail boom really a cause for alarm (and new legislation)? Some industry professionals would like to see the focus shift to things that need fixing. <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-from-licence-lottery-to-green-rush\">From licence lottery to green rush<\/h2>\n<p>In 2018, Ontario received a lot of press about the lack of cannabis retail locations due to their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/opinion\/editorials\/article-how-ontarians-got-the-losing-ticket-in-doug-fords-pot-lottery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">confusing lottery system<\/a>. Now, Ontario is once again in the spotlight, two and a half years later, for having <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.ca\/news\/canada\/provinces-struggle-number-cannabis-retail-stores\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">too many cannabis stores<\/a>. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">With 1,000 legal pot shops now authorized to open in the province \u2014 nearly a third of them in this city alone \u2014 Torontonians watching cannabis stores spring up on their main streets and crowd out other businesses have yet to see the end of this growth. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/npse7ODnNZ\">https:\/\/t.co\/npse7ODnNZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Toronto Star (@TorontoStar) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TorontoStar\/status\/1457438965615767569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 7, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>For a lot of people within the cannabis industry, the sudden attention to the spread of cannabis retail is a bit confusing\u2014after all, a private market was what the province opted for in 2018. <\/p>\n<p>It may have taken a while to ramp up, but the private market approach certainly led to a lot of cannabis shops. But is this truly a case of too many? Ontario surpassing 1000 stores is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bnnbloomberg.ca\/ontario-expects-up-to-1-000-pot-stores-opens-door-to-shopping-malls-1.1169064\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">exactly what experts predicted when legalization began<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Last month, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/two-toronto-councillors-ontario-government-new-cannabis-retail-licences-1.6240599\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two Toronto councillors<\/a> backed a provincial opposition bill that would grant cities power to regulate where retail cannabis stores open in an attempt to promote retail diversity.&nbsp;\u201cWe\u2019re seeing less variety and diversity in the number of retailers,\u201d councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam claimed to CBC. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think a day goes by that there\u2019s not at least one news item about the number of stores in Ontario or Toronto,\u201d says cannabis industry lawyer Chad Finkelstein. \u201cI have friends and family who call and say, \u2018How could there be so many stores? Can they all survive?\u2019\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Many people, he says, seem to want to assign blame for this\u2014as if 1,000 stores represented a market failure. Since Ontario hit the milestone, cannabis shops are being treated by politicians like an urgent concern.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" alt class=\"wp-image-186534 has-ll lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/pot-shop-panic-plagues-the-canadian-cannabis-industry-1.jpg,compress&amp;w=550 550w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/pot-shop-panic-plagues-the-canadian-cannabis-industry-1.jpg,compress&amp;w=740 740w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/pot-shop-panic-plagues-the-canadian-cannabis-industry-1.jpg,compress&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/pot-shop-panic-plagues-the-canadian-cannabis-industry-1.jpg,compress&amp;w=1480 1480w\"><figcaption>Superette has four Toronto storefronts, as well as two in Ottawa. (Superette)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s created a very funky dynamic,\u201d says Mimi Lam, founder of the Superette family of stores in Ottawa and Toronto. <\/p>\n<p>There is a degree of dismay, among retailers like Lam and lobbyists like Retail Cannabis Council of Ontario president Adam Vassos, about the idea of allowing for more involved regulation from cities and the province. <\/p>\n<p>Vassos explains that while the numbers grew quickly, there are positive sides to the boom in retail stores. It\u2019s made for a more competitive market, which ultimately benefits the consumers, and is helpful in reducing illicit cannabis sales. Which after all, was the main goal of legalization in the first place.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-the-current-cannabis-retail-game-is-far-from-perfect\">The current cannabis retail game is far from perfect<\/h2>\n<p>Instead, a better approach might be to fix what <em>is<\/em> wrong with cannabis retail. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d love to be able to curate my cannabis products the way I want to curate them,\u201d says Lam. She\u2019d love to sell more merch, or let people hang out in her stores, but she can\u2019t. Not yet, anyway.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So-called pot shops could be lively community hubs if they weren\u2019t so heavily regulated. Stores seem dull and lifeless from the outside, the regulations treat them more like adult novelty stores than the LCBO. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s actually the biggest problem I have. It isn\u2019t the volume of cannabis stores\u201d Finkelstein says. \u201cI think neighbourhoods and communities lose when you\u2019ve got all these covered windows.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img width=\"1024\" height=\"640\" alt class=\"wp-image-186535 has-ll lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/pot-shop-panic-plagues-the-canadian-cannabis-industry-2.jpg,compress&amp;w=550 550w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/pot-shop-panic-plagues-the-canadian-cannabis-industry-2.jpg,compress&amp;w=740 740w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/pot-shop-panic-plagues-the-canadian-cannabis-industry-2.jpg,compress&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/pot-shop-panic-plagues-the-canadian-cannabis-industry-2.jpg,compress&amp;w=1480 1480w\"><figcaption>Cannabis retail is treated more like adult novelty stores than alcohol retail. (Photo by Jesse Milns\/Leafly)<br \/>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In Ontario, stores are required to keep cannabis products out of public view. So curtains, frosted glass, long entryways, walls, etc., are used so that no one is able to see inside. It cuts the inside of the stores off from the world outside, which can be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.ca\/news\/industry\/covered-windows-safety-cannabis-stores\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dangerous for staff and intimidating to customers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ve got store after store where there\u2019s something is lost, visually, optically. When everything looks like it\u2019s boarded up? It\u2019s not an appealing visual.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like it or not, this is what we wanted, the billion-dollar industry that legalization was always meant to create.&nbsp;We should be treating legalized cannabis as a legitimate retail venture and not some dirty secret to be hidden behind tinted glass.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet the market decide,\u201d says Finkelstein, barely hiding his frustration with the way the stores have been cast in the media. \u201cThese are entrepreneurs who are taking major risks. That\u2019s part of the beauty of the entrepreneurial spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"author-box\" class=\"p-lg my-xxl bg-white rounded border border-light-grey elevation-low\">\n<div class=\"mb-lg\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/pot-shop-panic-plagues-the-canadian-cannabis-industry.jpg\" alt=\"Kieran Delamont's Bio Image\" class=\"lazyload inline-block mr-md rounded-full border border-light-grey\"> <\/p>\n<p>Kieran Delamont<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"text-sm\">Kieran is a writer and photographer based in Nova Scotia, located in Mi\u2019kma\u2019ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi&#8217;kmaq people. His work has appeared in Broadview, The Walrus, Maisonneuve, and elsewhere, and he has been writing about the cannabis industry since 2016.<\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"text-sm font-bold underline text-green\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.ca\/news\/author\/kieran-delamont\">View Kieran Delamont&#8217;s articles<\/a> <\/div>\n<div class=\"leafly-sailthru-signup p-lg my-xl bg-white rounded elevation-low border border-light-grey\">\n<p class=\"text-xs pt-lg\">By submitting this form, you will be subscribed to news and promotional emails from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\">Leafly<\/a> and you agree to Leafly&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/tos\">Terms of Service<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>. You can unsubscribe from Leafly email messages anytime.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat -->  <!--\nPerformance optimized by W3 Total Cache. Learn more: https:\/\/www.boldgrid.com\/w3-total-cache\/ Served from: _ @ 2021-11-26 20:34:38 by W3 Total Cache\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;Pot shop&#8217; panic plagues the Canadian cannabis industry &#8211; Leafly Link copied to your clipboard Leafly Leafly \u00ae Loading\u2026 Where are you from? Which part of Canada? Darn! You&#8217;re not old enough to use Leafly. Sorry, Leafly isn&#8217;t available in your location yet. Redirecting you to By accessing this site, you accept the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Politicians are panicking about retail cannabis\u2014the industry is not amused. In the last month or two, local news reporters across Ontario have emerged from the pandemic and seemingly noticed, to some shock, that cannabis retail has exploded. There are 1000+ licensed&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marijuana_information"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/pot-shop-panic-plagues-the-canadian-cannabis-industry.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}