Two months “late”, per an unnecessary 60 day waiting period, the first batch of Cannabis 2.0- legal cannabis edibles, extracts, and topicals, are finally on the verge of hitting shelves in British Columbia.
The province confirmed that the first shipments of products arrived last Wednesday, and have since been made available to both private and public retailers, with orders being made through the wholesale customer portal.
With cannabis 2.0 legalization being put through back in October, the bureaucratic delay has been due to the advance notice licensed producers must provide to Health Canada of their intention to sell products.
The Ministry of Attorney General, which oversees the province’s liquor control branch, which in itself is the only wholesale distributor of non-medical cannabis in B.C., noted that although more than 260 different products have been registered under the newly legal categories, only a small number are expected to be available for sale anytime soon.
Beverages, tea bags, chocolates, cookies, vaporizers, and cartridges are among the new products making their way through the system, one that is held up by product availability, and further on the ability for manufacturers to meet the demand of markets across the country.
Solicitor General Mike Farnsworth has previously stated that consumers shouldn’t expect the products to be available in retail outlets until January.
Some changes have also been made to existing products, with previously legalized oils and capsules being reclassified as extracts. And additionally, come January 1, 2020, the provincial sales tax on vapor products will increase from 7% to 20%.
As was the case with the first round of legalization, everything coming out of Cannabis 2.0 will still come burdened with the much-maligned “childproof” packaging.