Wasted Weed: Canada’s Disposal of 3.7 Million Pounds of Cannabis Since 2018 Oversupply has been a real issue for the cannabis industry.

  • the post of tom joad@sh.itjust.works
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    9 months ago

    How about we change the title juuuuust a bit…

    Since 2018 Canada Destroyed 3.7 Million Pounds of Cannabis Rather Than Let Prices Fall

    • masterspace@lemmy.ca
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      9 months ago

      That’s not really that accurate. The article explicitly says that much of the waste is caused by growers who overproduced low quality weed, when most of the market is focused on really high potency cannabis.

      • zaph@sh.itjust.works
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        9 months ago

        When demand is high and supply is low they raise prices but when supply is high and demand is low they don’t lower prices, the lower supply.

          • zaph@sh.itjust.works
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            9 months ago

            That would have been the smart thing to do but they continued to grow when it wasn’t selling fast enough to begin with so I don’t think we’re talking about the most brilliant minds.

  • dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    9 months ago

    Pot shop on every corner in Ontario. Shops are usually empty anytime I go in. Picking up whole ounces for $100. It was a scam run by the province to sell dispensary licenses because Doug Ford only knows how to run scams instead of doing good business based on good policy.

    • Sprawlie@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Really depends where you are. But there’s a massive oversaturation in some areas. Downtown Stouffville for example has like 15 right now. Stouffville has a population of 40,000. but at the same time, they are also serving other areas who have no shops. For example Markham and Richmond Hill both opted to ban sales of pot in their areas, as well as public consumption (bylaw)

      I hate Ford. But I don’t have a problem with anyone who wants a license being able to get one. Cannabis is a luxury product and like all retail/consumer luxury goods, there’s no need to regulate the business for “success”. let the free market sort this out. Yes some of them will fail. That’s free market.

      If the shop you frequent is almost always empty, it’s likely because it’s not a well regarded shop or chain. The store I go to (not chain) always has people in it. Even when I show up at 9am for opening, there is always people in it. but it’s also a little further away from any other pot shops and has a good reputation

  • Slayan@lemmy.ca
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    9 months ago

    There are 20 sqdc in quebec. Trois-Rivieres, my hometown, has a single one which is ± 20 min away from my house while Montreal, which has 10x more people than my town has only 8 of them.

    Im unsure about the black market in other town, but my coworker still grow 30-40 tree/yrs outside.

  • Sdnimm543@slrpnk.net
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    9 months ago

    It’s a weird way to frame misspeculating and overestimating demand, but whatever makes you feel better, industry.

  • rab@lemmy.ca
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    9 months ago

    I mean we throw away groceries in the same fashion, I think that’s just how capitalism works

  • BobbyNevada@discuss.tchncs.de
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    9 months ago

    Can one compost old weed? Turn it into weed mulch? Could someone buy it wholesale and make something else? This feels like a problem a little R and D could solve.

  • IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works
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    9 months ago

    It’s probably got a lot to do with the market being relatively new. I imagine things will settle down in the coming years as producers gain real data to base demand estimates off of.

    Also, I think initially some people were conflating support for legalization with actual demand. There are many people that support legalization who don’t actually use the product.

    • sighofannoyance@lemmy.worldOP
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      9 months ago

      «Industry expert and consultant Farrell Miller notes that the majority of this discarded product was destroyed for being too old and having too little THC. “There is no demand for old and low-THC products, so manufacturers of finished products are not buying this biomass as inputs,” she said. “It’s likely low-quality material with no value. “As consumers become more savvy with packaging dates on dried cannabis products, this trend will only continue.”»

      They claim nobody wants it

        • CaptainSpaceman@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Yeah, any trim or whack weeds could easily be repurposed for concentrates. Theres probably more to it than just “nobody wants it”

          • Troy@lemmy.ca
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            9 months ago

            The size of the market was vastly overestimated. Every pothead wanted a slice of the business, so they all started up companies thinking there was unlimited growth potential. It was rapidly saturated and now we’re in the collapse and consolidation phase, exacerbated by the higher interest rates and inflation.

            Canada’s population is similar to California, but it’s producing weed enough for a country several times its size.

            Plus the black market still exists, albeit in a small scope, due to price, quality, variety, or loyalty reasons.

    • dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      9 months ago

      Scholz’s “Berlin-only-3-dispensary-see-how-it-goes” plan is insultingly bad. Clearly Germans want weed. Give it to them. Canadian productivity and Uruguayan productivity didn’t slump when we legalized.

      • Sprawlie@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        no, but if you listened to the advertising by my local MP’s and Mayor, it destroyed the fabric of this country and the worst decision any government has done in Canadian history