Canada Runs Low on Legal Marijuana Just Weeks After Its Approval

Canada is running low on legal pot three weeks after the government approved the use of recreational marijuana, a shortage that is sending some frustrated consumers back to the black market.

At least three provinces — Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick — are facing a dearth of legal marijuana and two of them have seen outlets selling cannabis temporarily shut down for lack of supply.

“We need more weed!” said Trevor Tobin, who teamed up with his mother to open a marijuana retailer called High North in Labrador City, Newfoundland, a small mining town near the Quebec border. He said his suppliers did not grow enough plants and don’t have enough packaging equipment.

“It is the law of supply and demand,” Mr. Tobin said.

The shortage threatens to undermine a major aim of legalization: to tame an illegal marijuana trade estimated at about 5.3 billion Canadian dollars annually. Angry consumers across the country say they are returning to their illegal dealers. In Montreal, several pot smokers said their illegal dealers were taking advantage of the shortage by hawking home delivery services and lowering prices. [Read more at The New York Times]