Online pot delivery low, slow
Online cannabis ordering differs between provinces, territories
Canadians were eager to buy legal cannabis for recreational use online on Oct. 17, as government-run and privately operated pot portals were lit up with thousands of orders within the first 24 hours of legalization day.
However, the problems plaguing many of those initial orders such as delivery delays highlights the growing pains facing the newly legal market.
The Canadian Press tried to order the cheapest available gram or pre-roll of dried flower in each province and territory during the afternoon of Oct. 17.
One order could not be completed and two had still yet to arrive more than one week later.
All websites required various age verification checks and most interfaces were easy to navigate, but the available product was low and delivery times were often slower than promised.
The fastest delivery was in Halifax where the bureau received its order within two days, while it took a full week before the order arrived in Iqaluit.
The cheapest order including delivery was in Quebec at roughly $14 and the most expensive was in the Northwest Territories at more than $31.
Here’s how the pot order process rolled out across the country:
Newfoundland
Delivery date: Still waiting, Shipping fee: $10 minimum, Cost: $8.99; $20.34 total cost
Cannabis NL’s website was clean and easy to navigate, but on Oct. 17 the options for a quick, low-cost gram were limited. Sorting by lowest to highest price, the most affordable flower was a hybrid plant called Island Pink from Emerald Health Therapeutics Canada. The “expedited parcel” shipping was the cheaper option, promising a delivery time between five and seven days. On Friday morning, the product had not yet arrived and Cannabis NL sent customers an email that said “unexpected challenges with supply” are causing “unfortunate delays.”
Prince Edward Island
Delivery date: Oct. 22, Shipping fee: $7, Cost: $7.83; $17.05 total cost including shipping
The P.E.I. Cannabis Corp. website allows users to sort by format, plant type, strength or brand, but not price. The package arrived Monday around 11 a.m. looking like anything else one would receive in the mail. FIGR’s No. 17 ground cannabis sealed in a red packet came with pamphlets about responsible smoking and a receipt. Though, the website advertised THC totals of 9.99 to 17 per cent and the description boasted levels of 21 per cent, the physical product was marked with a total THC percentage just under 13 per cent.
New Brunswick
Delivery date: Oct. 22, Shipping fee: $7, Cost: $10.50; $17.50 total cost including shipping
The ordering process was simple. Just click on a button to state you are over 19, set up an account, order the product and go to the checkout to give your credit card info. A confirmation page after the order is placed indicated that the order should arrive by Friday. However, the package did not arrive at the office until Monday morning. Inside the large plastic Canada Post envelope was a packing slip and the small brown paper envelope containing the cannabis.
Nova Scotia
Delivery date: Oct. 19, Shipping fee: $6.09, Cost: $8.65; $16.95 total cost including shipping
The brands that ranged from $6.33 to just under $7.50 per gram were unavailable, according to the website. However, one gram of the Haven St. Mango Kush was available at $8.65. A Canada Post delivery agent arrived at the office two days after the order and a colleague who hadn’t ordered the marijuana signed for it. The packaging included consumer information that suggested the user “start low and go slow” in using the marijuana, and noted the effects could last up to six hours.
Quebec
Delivery date: Oct. 22, Shipping fee: $5, Cost: $8.50; $14.25 total cost including shipping
The Montreal bureau ordered one gram of Harmoniser. When the package arrived the following Monday at 10:15 a.m., the Canada Post delivery person asked for an employee’s signature at the door. The package gave no hint of what it contained, except for the “18+ signature” printed above the barcode. The delivery person did not request ID to confirm age upon delivery – but the person accepting the package looked more than 25 years old.
Ontario
Delivery date: Still waiting, Shipping fee: $5.65, Cost: $10.40, $16.05 total cost including shipping
With no brick-and-mortar cannabis stores in Ontario until next spring at the earliest, Ontarians can only buy legal recreational pot online. Devoid of colour, there are no stock photos, only an OCS logo and a message warning off those below the age of 19. After choosing one gram of Tangerine Dream from brand San Rafael for $10.40, the checkout process was quick and efficient. A shipping charge of $5.65 was added, bringing the total to $16.05, far above the black market price of less than $10 per gram. OCS said the product should arrive within one to three days, but the order had yet to arrive more than one week later.
Manitoba
Delivery date: Oct. 22, Shipping fee: $7.95, Cost: $12, $21.59 total cost including shipping
Winnipeg’s Delta 9 Cannabis Store website is easy to navigate and advertises same-day delivery in the city, but the shelves of the online store were nearly empty. Of the 11 dried cannabis strains, eight were sold out. Most of the strains left were only sold in larger quantities (five grams for $60 or 10 grams for $120) and only one offered smaller quantities (DNA Genetics Lemon Skunk for $12 a gram). It took five days of waiting for it to show. It arrived in an unnecessarily large plastic container in a giant bubble-wrap envelope.
Saskatchewan
Delivery date: Online orders were not available on Oct. 17
Those looking to buy cannabis online from Jimmy’s Cannabis were out of luck on legalization day. A message on its website on Oct. 17 said it held back on online sales due to discussions between Health Canada and Canada Post, Jimmy’s shipping provider. Upon accessing its website, the user was asked to put in their date of birth. However, on Oct. 22, Jimmy’s said in a post on its website that it was unable to open its e-commerce store “due to inventory shortages.” On Friday, online cannabis sales were still unavailable.
Alberta
Delivery date: Oct. 19, Shipping fee: $9.95, Cost: $9.24 before tax, $20.15 total cost including shipping
After a few simple questions to verify age – Alberta’s site checks submitted answers against provincial databases – users are taken to the product page. Only plain white packages are shown. Each product entry provides THC content and whether it’s a sativa, indica or a hybrid. The site won’t allow you to ship to a different address than the one provided for age verification. The cannabis arrived Friday afternoon, two days after it was ordered, and picture identification with a current address was required.
Nunavut
Delivery date: Oct. 24, Shipping fee: roughly $9, Cost: $16.99; $27.29 total cost including shipping
As an online customer in Nunavut, you become accustomed to a lack of options, all of which are expensive, and a sense of relief for even just getting an online order through. Internet speeds and access are far below national averages. Pot is no different. All but two options were sold out. With shipping, one gram of Lemon Skunk came to $27.29. Seven days later, postal workers deposited a package slip into a P.O. Box. It’s a short ATV ride to the postal warehouse. There, a worker said half the warehouse is full of pot orders.
Northwest Territories
Delivery date: Still waiting, Shipping fee: $12.47, Cost: $17.50; $31.47 total cost including shipping
There were only seven items available, offering five strains in various sizes. Despite the territory’s pledge that cannabis prices would start at around $8.50 per gram, the cheapest onegram package available online on legalization day cost $31.47. The total price included $17.50 for a gram of the Rockstar strain (one of two strains available in one-gram packages, identically priced), $1.50 in tax, and $12.47 in shipping to Yellowknife. By Friday morning, the package had not yet been delivered.
Yukon
Delivery date: Oct. 23, Shipping fee: $12 expedited shipping, Cost: $15.94; $29.34 total cost including shipping.
The website showed pictures of happy people in various settings such as around a kitchen table or a campfire with direct links to various cannabis types. The website offers value, core and premium pricing, ranging from just over $10 to $155. The cheapest pre-rolled cannabis was $15.94. The only choice was expedited shipping, costing $12 – almost as much as the joint itself. The package didn’t arrive until Tuesday about 11 a.m. and delivery required identification and a signature.
British Columbia
Delivery date: Oct. 26, Shipping fee: $10, Cost: $8.99 before tax. $21.27 total cost including shipping
It took less than 15 minutes to complete an online order for one gram of marijuana at B.C. Cannabis Stores.
There were about eight cannabis product for sale on legalization day in prices ranging from $6.99 per gram to $11.99 per gram. The cheapest brands of cannabis at $6.99 were already sold out just hours after the online store went live. Tangerine Dream at $8.99 a gram was still available.
The total price, including a $10 shipping charge, taxes and the one gram of cannabis, was $21.27.
On Oct. 20, the B.C. Liquor Distribution branch said it was “working hard to ship every order as quickly as possible” but “slight delays” meant rather than the estimated delivery period of up to two business days, the order would be shipped from the warehouse on Oct. 22. The order was picked up at a neighbourhood Canada Post outlet on Friday morning of Oct. 26. Packaged in a small, blue cardboard box, it included details about the strain, the THC and CBD content and a warning label, “Cannabis smoke is harmful.”