Canada’s licensed producers are telling Reuters that dispensaries, emboldened by the recent Allard decision, are hurting their bottom line.
Tilray CEO Greg Engel said Canadians are confused about what is and isn’t a legal method to obtain medical cannabis and, because of that confusion, dispensaries are a source of competition.
“We’re basically competing against a store that buys their product from whoever is growing it in their basement,” said OrganiGram CEO Denis Arsenault.
In Arsenault’s estimation, 30 per cent of all new cannabis patients will go to dispensaries over the licensed producer network.
The CEO said he wants to see the government force the shops to buy from licensed producers and be shut down quickly if they aren’t part of the Liberal government’s regulatory framework.