Legal cannabis 57 percent more expensive than the black market: Statistics Canada

Black market cannabis continues to undercut Canada’s legal market by a wide margin, according to the latest crowdsourced price data released by Statistics Canada.

The federal agency found the average cost of dried cannabis in the second quarter fell two per cent to $7.87 from $8.03 in the first quarter.

The decline was attributed to lower reported illegal prices, which fell to $5.93 from $6.23. That offset a jump in legal prices, including online and in-store purchases, which rose to $10.65 from $10.21.

The share of participants reporting “legal cannabis being too expensive” climbed to 34 per cent from 27 per cent in the first quarter of 2019. Respondents who said they purchased from illegal sources jumped to 59 per cent versus 55 per cent in the previous period.

The price quotes were gathered using the StatsCannabis crowdsourcing application between April 1 and June 30. The agency has said caution should be used when interpreting crowdsourced findings, noting a limited and self-selected pool of data.

For up-to-date marijuana prices in your city, check our Cannabis Converter to compare between retail and street market, and where to buy nearby.

Re-post Jeff Lagerquist @ Yahoo Finance