Why cannabis prices are plunging – unlike just about everything else in Canada

As Canadians deal with the highest inflation in decades and broadening price hikes, one industry remains locked in a lengthy trend of discounting and bargain rates: cannabis.

Laden with inventory, producers and retailers of marijuana have been slashing the prices of their products to bring in cash and fight for market share – a situation that is wildly different from the state of affairs in most other industries, in which broad economic forces are pushing up prices among competitors.

Prices for recreational and medicinal cannabis have dropped by 8.3 per cent and 10.2 per cent, respectively, over the past year, and by roughly 25 per cent in both categories since the end of 2018, according to Statistics Canada. The annual inflation rate hit 6.7 per cent in March, the highest since 1991.

Statscan measures the prices of dried flower and oil in the legal market, accounting for factors such as product size and levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive component in cannabis. Retail prices have also fallen sharply for vape pens, pre-rolls, edibles and THC-infused beverages, according to other data providers.

More than three years after the legalization of recreational use, the cannabis industry remains highly competitive. Many big-name producers have lost market share over the past year, and recent capital raises have stalled a long-anticipated wave of consolidation and closures. [Read more at The Globe and Mail]