Every year, there is always one present that tops everyone’s Christmas wish-list, like hatchimals, furbies and fingerlings. But this year, there is a new gift for adults that is burning off the shelves: Cannabis edibles.
“We knew they’d be popular, but we didn’t realize they’d be that popular,” said Kimberley Fyfe, general manager of Fire and Flower Cannabis Co.
According to Fyfe, edibles at all eight Fire and Flower locations across the province sold out within days of the first shipment. In Regina, Fire and Flower sold 160 units of edibles in four days, which is $2,500 worth of cannabis.
“Why they are so appealing is they’re very discreet, there’s no smell, there’s no odour,” Fyfe said. “It’s a very low dosage and they’ll get that experience of what cannabis is without having to smoke it or vaporize it.”
Edibles come in the form of gummies, chocolates and mints. Under Health Canada regulations, packages can’t exceed 10 milligrams.
Fyfe said new users should “start low and go slow.”
“We recommend that people start with just one gummy and wait a minimum of two-to-three hours to see what the effect is. It’s different person-to-person,” Fyfe said.
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Fire and Flower hope to restock all their locations with a variety of edibles this week.
“Our warehouse in Saskatoon is working hard to get those products back in and get those out to the store as quickly as possible,” Fyfe said.
At Vatic Cannabis Co. in the R.M. of Edenwold, owners are seeing a similar surge in customers.
Allen Kilback, Vatic Cannabis Co. president and CEO, said he’s ordered three shipments of gummies, chocolates and mints in less than a week. He’s now down to just mints and a few boxes of chocolates.
“We’re selling anywhere from 200-300 units a day,” Kilback said.
After seeing a lull in cannabis sales, Kilback said he was cautious buying supply for edibles. But, he said he plans to order enough gummies to sell 60 units a day.
Kilback said he’s noticed more people buying cannabis, edibles in particular, for Christmas presents this year compared to last year.
“One guy was buying for his father and then there was a father buying for his son,” Kilback said. “Everybody wants to get something new at Christmas.”
According to economics professor Jason Childs, edibles make up less than 16 per cent of cannabis consumption. He said smoking is still the primary way to consume cannabis.
“(Edibles are) going to draw in more of the casual users and people who have been getting edibles through the illicit market should be able to have another option,” Childs said.
Childs said he hasn’t seen any evidence to suggest edibles sales or sales of any cannabis products increase during the holidays.
“I can see quite a few people being glad about the option to relieve some stress of dealing with family this time of year,” Childs said. “But I don’t see that being a major driver for demand.”