As public health officials work to contain the coronavirus, Canadians are doubling down on cannabis.

Before the premier announced the province was in a state of emergency on Tuesday, Ontario Cannabis Store experienced a surge in sales. Sales were up 80 per cent on Saturday and 100 per cent on Sunday, Daffyd Roderick, director of communications for the OCS, told the The GrowthOp in an email. More than 7,000 orders were placed over the weekend.

The first licensed cannabis store in Waterloo is open for business.

Located on King Street South, Bud & Sally Cannabis Co. recently welcomed local residents to check out the cannabis-infused products on offer, CTV News reports.

As the only pot shop in town, the launch drew limited patrons. It’s not as if there’s a significant amount of local competition in the region, although Kitchener’s Meta Cannabis and Cambridge’s Tokyo Smoke are but a quick drive away.

One Waterloo resident said lack of publicity may have been the cause.

The first cannabis store in Waterloo and the third in the region is officially open.

Bud and Sally Cannabis Company held its grand opening on Saturday and welcomed in the public at noon.

“We’re doing all that we can to create a warm shopping place for our customers,” said store owner John Radostits. “With all the thing’s going on in the world it’s pretty exciting to have a friendly place to buy your cannabis.”

Due to coronavirus panic buys, toilet paper shortages are being reported across North America. While retailers try to put limits on the number of packages its customers can buy, one enterprising Canadian cannabis company is taking advantage of the situation for a noble purpose.

TVAPE, an Ontario-based retailer of cannabis vaporizers, is promising to ship coveted stock to nearby locations. But all is not exactly as it seems. Originally listed at a steep $130 per roll (a supposedly marked down rate from a previous listing of $270), the product is now “out of stock.”

It turns out that TVAPE isn’t actually selling toilet paper. Instead, the company is using the hysteria surrounding stockpiling essential supplies to raise awareness of Covid-19.

A massive amount of ketamine and cannabis won’t be making it to the streets thanks to a joint operation by U.S. Homeland Security and Canada’s RCMP.

The trans-Atlantic, border-crossing drugs have been stopped in its tracks. The 3.15 kg haul of ketamine originated in Paris in early February, but was intercepted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Memphis en route to the Greater Toronto Area. The illicit cargo was transferred by HSI to the RCMP to continue the investigation, police noted in a release.

The Ontario Cannabis Store generated approximately $4.3 million in sales from cannabis 2.0 products last month, according to a statement issued by the provincial retailer Friday afternoon. 

$3.77 million came from sales of vape products and an additional $569,000 was generated from sales of edibles for the month of January. 

The figures included sales to retailers across the province and online sales through OCS.ca. 

“Every new product we introduce, every price drop we make and every authorized retail store that opens strengthens the legal marketplace,” says Cheri Mara, chief commercial officer at the OCS. 

There are currently 43 cannabis stores in Ontario, according to the latest update from the Alcohol and Gaming Corporation of Ontario. 

Better late than never.

At long last, the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) has released its annual report, albeit almost a year after the conclusion of the fiscal year that it covers.

The report details the Crown corporation’s “formative actions, financial performance and significant accomplishments” from Apr. 1, 2018 to Mar. 31, 2019 — about six months before adult-use cannabis became federally legal and six months after, respectively.

Retailers are wasting no time in trying to get a piece of Ontario’s pot pie.

The province received a whopping estimated 450 Retail Store Authorization (RSA) submissions on March 2, the first day Ontario began accepting the applications, Marijuana Business Daily reports.

After two highly-contested and much-criticized lotteries, Ontario is embracing an open-market system of store allocation.

Cannabis And Fine Edibles (CAFE), Ontario's largest independent cannabis retailer, today announced that it has become a member of the Canadian Cannabis Retailers Union (CCRU; www.ccru.ca), the country's preeminent cannabis retail industry association. As a member of the CCRU, CAFE commits to upholding the highest standards of responsible cannabis sales and employee education and training. 

Specifically, CAFE and other CCRU retail members are required to implement the following measures to ensure they operate safe stores which are both consumer friendly and respect surrounding communities: