At 5:30 p.m. on a rainy Tuesday night, The Dispensary — one of Vancouver’s oldest grey market cannabis stores — is doing booming business. Dozens of people stop in to pick up cannabis flower, edibles, and other cannabis products. Not one of their customers seem concerned that the store isn’t licensed by the provincial government.

After a lengthy wait, B.C. now has 134 licensed cannabis providers in operation. But many consumers are choosing to stay with unlicensed suppliers. Although more than 20 per cent of British Columbians have used a cannabis product in the past three months, according to Statistics Canada, sales per capita are the lowest in the country, averaging at just $10.

“The (grey market) dispensaries had it down; it was a system that worked,” says “Grizz” Lee, the owner of the Hemp City cannabis gear store in Kelowna. He feels that the B.C. government cannabis roll-out was a failure. “Once it was legalized, it left a gap of a year when the dispensaries closed down, and the black market moved back in.”

Lee feels that the corporate, regulated stores have abandoned the traditional cannabis culture.

“They’ve made it like a Starbucks. We had such a beautiful, thriving culture and they just crushed it.”

Quality, quantity and price

For customers who smoke, the biggest complaints are that the legal selection is poor and that the legal product is often old and dry. Because legal stores have to buy their stock from the BC Liquor Distribution branch, who in turn purchase wholesale quantities from the new commercial marijuana growers, the delay in getting product into the hands of consumers sometimes shows up in less-than-desirable quality.

Edibles consumers have only had access to legal gummies since the end of last year, and similarly feel that the products being offered are either of a poorer quality, or are overpackaged. Many feel that the grey market simply offers a better product at a better price.

What about edibles, the new kid on the block for cannabis products?

“Disgusting,” says Claire, who asked to withhold her last name for fear of consequences. She’s a Dispensary customer who has tried the new licensed store in Vancouver’s west end, but wasn’t happy with what she bought.

She says she relies on edibles to treat issues related to tendonitis and feels that medicinal users are being ignored by the new stores. She finds that the edibles from the Dispensary are better quality, more affordable, and says they are more effective for pain relief.

Plastic and packaging problems

Lee and Claire both say that packaging is one of the biggest problems with regulated cannabis, but for different reasons: For Claire, it’s the child-proof caps on vials that make them difficult to open; for Lee, it’s the limited edible potency amount and package sizes that frustrates Lee.

“They only offer 10mg [of THC] per package, but the grey market will sell you 20 six-mg [THC] gummies for $13.50.”

“None of this is environmentally friendly,” adds Claire.

1st Cannabis is North Vancouver’s first regulated store. Photo: Barry Rueger

An evolving program

North Vancouver’s store, called 1st Cannabis, opened on New Year’s Eve in a small space carved out of the Sailor Hagar’s Pub and Liquor Store.

David Wilson, one of three employees working the sales counter, agrees that their selection has been limited so far, but points out that the new industry is still developing.

“We have a pretty good selection right now, but it’s only growing,” he says. “The selection, compared to a year ago, is much better.”

He also says that edibles should be regulated and consistent — something he says isn’t a guarantee in the grey and illicit markets.

“With edibles, when you’re getting grey market or black market it’s not always measured properly, where one edible may be a very low dose, and one will be very high,” he says. “In our 10-mg baggie, every single gummy is exactly 2mg.”

As far as the quality of flowers, he says that the regulated product has to be drier to prevent mould during processing and distribution, but added “you can add a moisture pack and there will be negligible difference.” He also says that legal product “has been tested and measured,” so that users know exactly what they’re buying.