Oct. 17 marked the fifth anniversary of the legalization of cannabis in Canada, and for residents in Cochrane, a local dispensary assures Kush, Ganja, Za, or whatever you want to call it is here to stay.
The Cannabis Act came into effect on Oct. 17, 2018, which legalized and regulates the production, distribution, sale, import, export, and possession of cannabis for adults of legal age.
During its first year of legalization, products were limited to fresh and dried cannabis, alongside cannabis oil, seeds and plants. Later on in 2019, a wider array of products including extracts, edibles, and topicals became available for sale.
According to information from Stats Can, annual sales of Cannabis in 2022 totaled $4.5 billion. Additionally, by the first half of 2023, more than 70 per cent of cannabis consumed across Canada was from legal sources, which is a 22 per cent increase from the first quarter of 2018 when legalization started.
General manager for Cochrane’s In N Out Cannabis Discounter, said business has been good to them and green from both ends of the community are going both ways.
“They’ve consistently been coming back and growing that clientele base in town, and it’s been amazing,” he said. “People are really enjoying everything on the menu and the shelves, there’s nothing that doesn’t sell from topicals for people who have ailments, to pre-rolls or new infused pre-rolls, for people who want those high THC numbers and want to get their nice stone on.”
Malley added that there are a few things that consumers are hoping to see change.
“I get tons of people asking for high dose edibles that Health Canada hasn’t changed yet, [because] we are still at that 10mg base,” he said.
Five years later since legalization, Malley said the trend in both Cochrane and Alberta has shifted more to high-THC consumption.
“There’s not a lot of strains and products out here that are low or mid-THC range, it seems a lot of consumers are going towards high-THC,” he said.
Malley said that educating consumers about alternatives and other products on the market plays a large role when it comes to dealing cannabis in the community.
“That makes a big thing is budtender education and passing that on to our consumers and making sure they got the right product that they are looking for,” he said. “In the past couple of years, we had such a shift with new products that people are trying.”
With new ways to consume cannabis outside of smoking, Malley said it opened the doors for edibles and even popular cannabis-infused drinks to the market.
“Drinks are a really big sale on the market right now,” he said. “The selection is exploding, and it’s getting crazy.”
Malley said he is happy to see cannabis take off the way it is both across Canada and in Cochrane.
“We hope to maybe next year have cannabis consumption areas within events in Cochrane, if you hypothetically have a wedding, business meeting, or conference, and you want cannabis consumption there, we hope to have delivery for that soon,” he said. “We will also have delivery at our shop by the end of the month too, and just get cannabis to those people who might not have the chance to try it in a different setting or at home.”
Overall, Malley said he is happy to be able to serve the cannabis needs of Cochrane and looks forward to the future of legalization.
“We never know what’s going to be coming out of it,” he said. “With Health Canada making changes right now to regulations, we can see maybe personal possession limits increase, we are definitely going to see edible [limits] increased, and I think consumers really enjoy taking advantage of that.
“Especially here in Cochrane, people love all kinds of aspects of cannabis, and whatever they can do to enjoy it, we can do to help.”
