10 New Private Stores in New Brunswick Announced

It was recently announced that Cannabis New Brunswick (CNB), the government agency that oversees cannabis sales and distribution in the province, will be opening new private cannabis retail stores alongside its 20 public stores currently in operation, per StratCann.

The Breakdown

• New Brunswick introduced a bill in 2021 and passed in 2022, where they announced their plan to open a dozen new stores across the province.
• CNB currently has 20 public stores, as well as a handful of pop-up locations.
• New Brunswick also recently launched their farm-gate model, of which there are currently 3 operating the province.
• Lori Stickles, CEO of Cannabis NB stated that the “goal of having private retail locations is to combat the illicit market by providing better access to safe, regulated cannabis products in underserved areas of the province”.

Our Perspective

New Brunswick continues to be an interesting case study of a province that is continuously adapting and evolving its cannabis retail system. It’s fascinating to see a public organization like CNB being supportive of private retail businesses opening and competing alongside them in the cannabis retail market. If you are interested in hearing more about the farm-gate model in New Brunswick, check out our interview with ECO Canadian Organic, one of the three LPs in New Brunswick with a farm gate store operating in the province.

San Francisco Decriminalizes Psychedelics

On September 6, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution to decriminalize psychedelics, per Leafly.

The Breakdown

• Under the resolution, psychedelics, or “entheogens” as they put it, are defined as the “full spectrum of plants, fungi, and natural materials that can inspire personal and spiritual well-being.” The list includes psilocybin, ayahuasca, DMT, ibogaine, and more.
• Beyond just decriminalizing these psychedelic substances, the resolution also allows for the “planting, cultivating, purchasing, transporting, distributing, engaging in practices with” them as well. It does not provide limits on quantities for possession.
• The resolution makes San Francisco the fourth city in California to decriminalize psychedelics, following Arcata, Oakland, and Santa Cruz. There is now more than a dozen cities across the United States, as well as the entire state of Oregon, have decriminalized either psilocybin or all psychedelics.

Our Perspective

The decriminalization of psychedelics across the U.S is happening very rapidly. In this instance, although no laws are being changed, the resolution instead deprioritizes psychedelics for law enforcement. This is still a step in the right direction, and we look forward to seeing if any micro-markets end up emerging in what many would consider a major hub for psychedelic culture.

New Cannabis Business Model in B.C

Sitka Legends, a business operating in an industrial park located in B.C. is partnering with micro-cultivators to help bring their cannabis products to market, reports MJBiz Daily.

The Breakdown

• The business model functions twofold, where micro-cultivators lease production space from Sitka, who also serve as the licensed processor for those small growers.
• Sitka’s tenant growers pay approximately 9,000 Canadian dollars ($7,000) per month to rent a single unit that is roughly 4,500 square feet in size.
• The revenue from sales gets split with the growers, with Sitka taking a 30% cut, which Sitka claims is profitable for both them and the tenant growers.
• Quadessence, one of the tenant growers, has achieved profitability, and has already begun investing its profits back into the business, making improvements to the grow unit itself.

Our Perspective

This is an interesting business model. We have heard rumblings about similar business models since the start or adult-use legalization and the micro-cultivation licence was first announced. However, companies have had difficulty executing on this type of partnership model. This approach does seem to provide a solution to prospective growers that have limited funding, and difficulty transitioning to the legal industry. Sitka seems focused on the type of consumer they want to appeal to, ensuring their tenants are producing flavourful, high-quality dried flower that typically sells for a higher price point at the retail level. Something that we feel is still lacking in the current market.