Nova Scotia places first recreational cannabis order

The Nova Scotia agency that regulates recreational marijuana distribution in the province placed its first purchase orders last week.

The Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. (NSLC), in preparation for the Oct. 17 launch date of Canada’s adult-use cannabis market, ordered 3.75 million grams (8,267 pounds) of cannabis from 14 Canadian licensed producers.

NSLC expects to order about 15 million grams (33,069 pounds) annually, according to a news release.

With these first purchase orders, the NSLC cannabis retailers will carry 282 cannabis products representing 78 strains.

The agency said recreational marijuana will come in five formats:

  • Flower
  • Seeds
  • Pre-rolls
  • Oil
  • Gel caps

The entity also placed an order with Humble+Fume, a cannabis accessory vendor in Manitoba, to initially supply 21 accessories to liquor corporation stores.

Of the 14 growers, 11 are in Ontario, two are in New Brunswick and one in Alberta.

The three licensed producers in Nova Scotia have cultivation licenses but not sales licenses, so they could not be selected as suppliers.

The agency said Nova Scotia products would be available once those sales licenses are issued.

“We’re in ongoing conversations with them, and we expect it won’t be long before they are able to sell to us, at which point we will have local products on our shelves,” Beverly Ware, a liquor corporation spokeswoman, wrote in an email to Marijuana Business Daily.

The strains and amounts were selected based on relevant sales data from the recreational and medical cannabis markets in Canada and the United States, product availability and the suppliers’ ability to provide a continuous supply, according to the news release.