Marijuana hasn’t proven to be the cash crop the government expected, with cannabis excise tax revenues coming in at roughly half the original estimates.
In the first fiscal year that marijuana was legalized, 2018 – 2019, the government took in $18 million in cannabis revenues, but had expected to take in $35 million. This year the government expected it would bring in $100 million, but now estimates it will see only $66 million.
Statistics Canada has also been tracking prices since before legalization and has found so far that illegal weed is falling in price, in order to compete with legal shops. There is also an approximately $4 per gram gap in prices with legal cannabis selling for around $10 per gram and illegal products selling for closer to $6.
Despite that price difference, the number of people buying cannabis legally is so far continuing to rise, according to the agency.
