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Even if the government was able to shut down most of the unlicensed brick-and-mortar shops in the GTA, what would they do about the shops on Indigenous territory where our law is considered colonial law?
Recently, the Ontario government devised a divisive plan to try and convince Indigenous communities to fight between themselves for a limited number of retail licences. This scenario has yet to play out in the coming months with the next Ontario cannabis retail lottery happening in December. It will be interesting to see how it and the unlicensed shops are managed in 2020.
What is the government going to do about the hundreds of online cannabis delivery services that have popped up since legalization, who, like CAFE and other unlicensed enterprises, offer more affordable options of a wider range of products? It seems like an impossible task for our government to address effectively. Yet, a big part of Legalization 2.0 is somehow reconciling the gulf between the legal and legacy markets.
How can this be achieved? One solution is data. Looking around the Legalization 2.0 landscape, we can see how data is driving information and solutions. Data-driven operations have been the norm across many, if not most industries for the last decade or so, since those capabilities have become more available and since that talent has graduated and entered the work force. Why would the cannabis industry be an exception?
In fact, there’s even more need for data-driven solutions in our industry precisely because of the lack of legacy information to draw from currently available to the legal companies trying to successfully navigate the field.
In fact, there’s even more need for data-driven solutions in our industry precisely because of the lack of legacy information to draw from currently available to the legal companies trying to successfully navigate the field. That legacy information often comes in the form familiar to the culture from which it was spurned; Oral tradition. Until just recently, knowledge around cannabis and its use (apart from the bulk of modern cannabis research conducted to show its potential harms) has been passed down, for the most part, through word of mouth. This was an effective way to sell cannabis when it was being done in living rooms, but not in a regulated, commercial market. These days, companies like Deloitte and Ernst and Young (EY), for example, are producing insightful information compelled by data, which helps cannabis licence holders make predictions and execute actions strategically.
Cannabis-adjacent companies have discovered there are benefits to being responsive to the cannabis industry. They are responsive to the needs of industry and the needs of consumers. Data-driven strategy facilitates continuous improvement and there’s still a lot of work to do to make the Canadian cannabis industry work better for everyone. What products do people want? How do they want to acquire it? Who do they want to buy it from? Where do they want to consume it? We’re discovering the answers to these questions and are waiting patiently for solutions to come out of the legal market.
Legalization 2.0 should symbolize the unification of the legacy and legal markets, which would bring more opportunity for everyone. It should represent responsibility and integrity. It should represent opportunity. We’re all hoping the Canadian government is responsive to the demands of both industry and consumer alike and creates a more sensible model for legalization in 2020 and beyond.