Demand is outstripping supply in some Edmonton cannabis stores, making some wonder whether Alberta will see a run on legal on weed just two days into legalization.
Ryan Seeras, chief marketing officer for Numo Cannabis, said the store in north Edmonton is already out of three-quarters of its supply.
“As of right now, we still have 10 strains out of 30,” he said on Thursday.
“We do predict we are going to run out by end of day today.”
READ MORE: Edmonton marijuana enthusiasts line up at cannabis stores on legalization day
When asked whether the store could have ordered more legal weed in preparation, Seeras said the store ordered as much as it could for the safe in the back.
He said an order was placed with the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission, the province’s only legal weed supplier, on Wednesday night.
“We should be ready to go by early next week,” Seeras said, adding the store may be out of product on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“We still will be open for educational purposes, for accessories, papers and everything like that. But for actual cannabis product, the earliest we can get it would be by Monday next week.”
Watch below: Chopper video shows lineups outside Edmonton, St. Albert cannabis stores on Wednesday morning
Seeras said he did not expect this to happen so quickly.
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“Not by two days, no. We thought at least by the [week’s end] but hey, we’re happy that we’re able to sell out so fast,” he said.
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Staff at Small Town Buds in Devon said they are likely in the same boat and may run out by Thursday night.
Owner Chris Felgate said he also did not anticipate this level of demand.
Felgate said there were three-hour waits for customers on Wednesday and he kept the store open until 1 a.m., three hours past the posted closing time.
He said he will soon be placing another order with the AGLC but said the store will close once it has run out of its first order of legal weed.
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Demand online was also high in Alberta. Between midnight and 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, about 8,300 online pot purchases had been made. That translates to about $730,000 worth of products, the AGLC said.
The first customers to order from the Alberta government’s weed website began to receive their orders Thursday.
As an experiment, Global News put in an order as soon as possible after the website went live at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. After some website delays, the order was processed at about 1:15 a.m. It was delivered by Purolator 36 hours later.
Customers on the site may choose from two methods of delivery, Canada Post or Purolator. Both cost $9.95 regardless of what’s in the order.
As of 2:30 p.m. Thursday, the site had sold out of 10 of the 80 products available.
Watch below: Global News coverage of Day 1 of marijuana legalization in Edmonton
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The AGLC did not respond to interview requests by time of publication about supply issues in the province.
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