The new year is off to a rocky start for Aphria Inc.

The Ontario-based medical marijuana and cannabis oil company has issued a voluntary recall of its new line of vape pens because some of its cartridges have a leaking issue.

“Out of an abundance of caution we asked provincial customers to return certain initially shipped ‘510 cartridges’ that did not meet our intended consumer experience,” said Tamara Macgregor, chief corporate affairs officer for Aphria, told The GrowthOp. “We expect to resume shipment of these products shortly.”

Some local cannabis stores are waiting for a resupply of edibles after brisk sales over Christmas of the new product left their shelves low on stock.

The initial rollout of cannabis also faced supply issues. Instead of a lack of product grown, however, this time the culprit is more due to the fact Health Canada did not even start looking at the approval process for edible products until after it became legal on Oct. 17. With product hitting shelves on Dec. 16 in Manitoba, there was not much time to build up stock.

“It’s hard to get some of the orders to be fulfilled and there’s been some bottlenecks of whatever the operational issues are that still need to be ironed out,” said Mark Goliger, the CEO of Meta Cannabis.

The first 15 months of cannabis legalization has certainly had its share of ups and downs for the burgeoning new industry. Alberta has taken a far more sensible approach to regulation than some other provinces, but that hasn’t meant that the industry here has been spared from this tumult.

There is some reason for optimism as we embark upon a new year. Some of the issues that had been plaguing the industry — product shortages and a moratorium on new retail licences, for example — have largely been sorted out and edible products, which became legal nearly three months ago, will soon start hitting store shelves.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. has put one of its largest greenhouses — located in Exeter, Ont. — up for sale for $17 million, as the company takes steps to reduce its expenses and boost its cash balance after a series of weak quarters that have sparked jitters amongst investors.

“We have concluded that this non-operational greenhouse would require retrofit and significant capital investment in order to meet Aurora’s production standards,” read a Monday afternoon statement from Aurora’s vice-president of communications, Michelle Lefler.

“Aurora has taken decisive steps to rationalize capital expenditures and align our cultivation footprint to current demand, including selling the Exeter facility,” the statement read.

A new cannabis store is expecting to create up to 36 jobs in Timmins.

Hobo Cannabis Company, a “progressive” cannabis retail store, announced Monday they will be the new retailer set to occupy 993 Riverside Dr.

The reason Hobo decided to open up shop in the city was because, “we saw a real glimmer of hope in Timmins, it being the northern-most opportunity for cannabis retail, a market that is dramatically underserviced,” Harrison Stoker, vice-president of brand and culture for Donnelly Group, Hobo’s parent company, told The Daily Press. “We’re super excited to get up north.”

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Although the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada represented an unprecedented growth opportunity, the industry has faced significant headwinds following a less-than-smooth rollout.

From the number of legal dispensaries to the types of products that can be sold to consumers, a number of factors have contributed to the slow rollout of Canada’s recreational cannabis market and this has put pressure on companies that are levered to this burgeoning opportunity.

It shouldn't take very long for things to get interesting for marijuana stocks in 2020. There are plenty of potential catalysts that could be on the way, both in Canada and in the U.S.

2019 was supposed to be a banner year for the cannabis industry. It turned to be anything but. 

The legal cannabis industry here in Canada kicked off the year with lofty expectations. It seemed that finally, policymakers had created a regulated environment that could see products compete with — and hopefully eliminate — the illicit market while ushering in an exciting new industry that would result in thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in consumer spending. 

Then the bubble burst. 

Long-awaited second-wave cannabis products such as vapes, edibles and concentrates will finally hit the shelves today at the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS).

The Crown corporation is stocking almost 60 new cannabis-infused products when brick-and-mortar stores open their doors for the day. Ontario’s curious cannabis lovers without a local OCS, however, will have to take a road trip or wait until the products go on sale online on Jan. 1.

Ontarians will see a “very limited supply” of cannabis 2.0 products at retail stores starting next week, with online sales starting Jan. 16, according to the Ontario Cannabis Store, the province’s only cannabis wholesaler.

“We expect products to sell out within the first week. But it will improve, week after week,” said OCS chief of staff David Lobo at a media event showcasing 59 different products that will soon be for sale.

While the OCS has begun shipping vape pens, chocolates, gummies and tea bags to the 27 retail stores across the province, it made the decision to delay the sale of these products on their own site, OCS.ca., due to limited supply.