A Green Year

Cannabis in Thunder Bay: 2024 Edition

By Justin Allec

As part of their mandate, Health Canada conducts an annual survey on the nation’s cannabis use. Summarizing the attitudes and habits of 11,000 Canadians, the survey shows ongoing changes in the public’s relationship to cannabis.

While the quantity of cannabis consumed has remained stable since 2018, edibles continue to gain on smoking as the preferred method of consumption. People’s access has also changed, with 72% of respondents relying on storefronts for their cannabis needs, compared to 37% in 2019. One of the big reasons for legalization in the first place was to counter the black market, and in 2024, only a measly 3% of responses cited purchasing illegally.

The preference for storefronts certainly bears out in practice. People are accustomed to the stores, and locations that prove they’re reliable in terms of product and staff have really benefitted. Local stores such as Toke House and J. Supply Co. have become a part of the neighbourhood retail landscape and part of people’s self-care shopping routines—it’s business as usual. Ryan Prosser, manager of the Current River Toke House, reports how the industry has stabilized and even slowed. “They’ve pushed the innovation as far as it can go now. They’ve added cannabis to every kind of food and product. And now we have some strains that promise 60% THC—that’s kind of the limit.” Instead of flashy innovation, Prosser reports people are more interested in quality products and brands that have stuck around since the beginning.

Gayle Church, manager of the Memorial branch of J. Supply Co., agrees about the change in approach. One-ounce bags have really increased in quality, as this has become most dried flower user’s preferred quantity for purchase, and she’s noticing a turn in customer’s questions towards terpenes. “High THC is still a big selling point, but more people are getting interested in effects and flavours,” Church says. However, she says that now is the time for Health Canada to revisit some of the initial legislation in the Cannabis Act to further bring it into line with other controlled products and changes brought by the legacy market. She cites the prevalence of home-made edibles or the 30-gram carry limits as areas where the government could be flexible with their legislation. Government responses to criticisms like these are usually slow, but the industry is still very young, and bound to surprise all of us in the year ahead.