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TORONTO (AP) – The name of the store is High North, but it was named after the world.
Trevor Tobin, one of the owners of the Labrador City shop in Newfoundland and Labrador, said they went 10 straight days without supply.
"The producers keep saying it's going to be in the road, but right now it's not a bump in the road. It's a big pothole, "he said.
His mother, Brenda Tobin, is a part of the story, "Oh, I guess it's back to the black market."
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Legalization arrived Oct. 17, and Canada became the world's largest national marketplace for so-called recreational marijuana. But for now, it's a superlative in name only.
The first weeks have felt more like a shortage of operating tools. It's not because Canada has been slow, and the federal government is taking steps to speed up the process.
The provinces are handling the sales and most of the regulations. Reports from around the world are similarly discouraging when it comes to supply.
Quebec closed its government-run shops because of a lack of pot and will continue to keep them shut. Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries said it could last six months.
Ontario, Canada's most populous province, will open the door to the new conservative government writes regulations. Meantime, police have shut down at least 11 illegal dispensaries in the province.
Ontario residents who want to make their purchases At least 150,000 orders combined, and the store can not keep up.
Contributing to the delivery is a strike by Canada Post workers, the nation's postal services that are legal in the country.
British Columbia, the third-largest province by population and place of the world.
Across Canada, people are returning to the black market. And some never left.
Corey Stone, a 32-year-old bar-restaurant manager in Montreal, and his friend were first-in-line at Quebec's government-run cannabis store on Oct. 17, but he has not been back because of the supply problems getting his pot illegally.
In the capital of Ottawa, Ontario Capital Buds is one of the last holdouts after most of the illegal dispensaries in the town of Oct. 16 so they could file for legal operating licenses. Business is booming – at 11 am we have a recent chilly, gray day, waiting room was packed.
Blake Murchison, 62, was among the customers. He did not try visiting the government's online store.
"Why? There's a postal strike! "He laughed. "I'm not patient. It's a matter of convenience, really. Gold inconvenience. "
Devyn Stackhouse, a 30-year-old student at Ottawa's Algonquin College, did go to the government website on Oct. 17 and placed two orders for five pre-rolled joints and four strokes of four strains. After waiting for a week, Stackhouse went to an illegal dispensary.
"If (the government) was serious about access, then it would have been allocated to the OCS," Stackhouse said, referring to the Ontario Cannabis Store website.
In Newfoundland, 25-year-old technician Elwood White. He said marijuana is more expensive but better quality.
"It definitely has better buzz," he said.
Private and government retailers are dependent on the market. But so far, of 132 marijuana approved by Health Canada, only 78 have sales licenses.
FSD Pharma Inc., an Ontario-based producer, received a license for a license.
"There is a lot of red tape," said Dr. Raza Bokhari, co-chairman and interim chief executive of FSD Pharma. "Some of the obstacles are unnecessary. It is quite burdensome. "
Cam Battley, a top executive at Aurora Cannabis Inc., is one of Canada's large-scale producers.
Health Canada has hired 300 additional staff to evaluate applications for producers. Thierry Belair, spokesperson for Canada's health minister, said the government has streamlined the licensing process and is increasing.
"The implementation of the new legal regime that will be better Canadians is not an event, it's a process," Belair said in an email. "The demand for some strains may be more important than for others but … we are confident that the industry is well-positioned to supply customers as transition to the legal market."
The rollout problems have been felt in Canada's financial markets. Cannabis company stocks that soared
Aurora's stock price is about $ 15.16 per share Canadian (US $ 11.68), Goal Battley remains optimistic.
It is a requirement for provinces to apply for expectations. But Battley said high demand is a good thing and who has gotten what they want to be satisfied.
"A lot of people in a baggy, and who knows how that was cultivated." He said. "Once they get a hold of professionally grown cannabis and value-added products like the pre-rolls and capsules, they are pretty darned pleased."
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Lindeman reported from Ottawa. Associated Press writer Jim Morris in Vancouver, British Columbia, contributed to this report.
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Follow AP's marijuana coverage here: https://apnews.com/LegalMarijuana
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