Illegal cannabis getting even cheaper, as legal gets costlier, StatsCan says

Statistics Canada’s quarterly report on cannabis prices suggests the cost chasm between legal and illegal versions of the drug is wide and getting wider.

The data agency reported Wednesday that the price gap between the two types of cannabis is as wide as $4.72 a gram, on average.

Canada legalized recreational cannabis last October, but the rollout across the country has been plagued by delays, limited supply, and other logistical issues. 

StatsCan has been asking Canadian cannabis users to tell them about how often they use the drug, and what they pay for it when they do, and the data painting an illuminating picture of a part Canadian society that used to operate solely in shadows.

Based on 572 voluntary responses the data agency deemed credible in the second quarter, StatsCan said the illegal version of the price fell from $6.23 per gram on average, at the start of the year, to $5.93 a gram in the three months up to the end of June. 

Legal cannabis, meanwhile, went from $10.21 per gram to $10.65. That means the gap between the two is now as wide as $4.72 a gram.

And the gap is getting wider, not smaller. Three months ago, StatsCan’s report of the first full quarter of price information showed the gap between legal cannabis and the illegal variety was $3.62 a gram. 

That means the illegal stuff today is roughly half the cost of the legal variety. So it is not surprising that more than half — 59 per cent — of respondents said they purchased illegal cannabis during the period.

More than a third of them said they did so because the legal version is too expensive. The rest said they did so because they preferred the quality of the illegal options, or because it was too difficult to buy the legal stuff where they live.