Global Ganja Report

A showdown is shaping up in Vancouver, where the city's 420 event has always been held with no permit. This year it promises to be huge, with Cypress Hill headlining—and authorities pressing for cancellation. Organizers pledge the event will go ahead—with approval of the bureaucracy or not.

As a commercial cannabis industry is established in Jamaica, more Caribbean nations are moving toward decriminalization and establishing medical marijuana programs. Saint Vincent & the Grenadines was the latest to take this move, and it looks like Saint Kitts & Nevis will be next. Dominica and Grenada are studying such proposals, and cannabis tourism is anticipated.

In a strange irony, Vancouver is shutting down its long-tolerated but unlicensed cannabis dispensaries, pursuant to a British Columbia high court decision upholding its right to do so—even as the province struggles to meet demand amid a dearth of licensed retail outlets.

From the "Tulip Mania" in 15th century Holland to the Bitcoin bubble of 2017, high hopes for a commodity's market performance can lead to unsustainable overvaluation inevitably followed by a painful correction. Many observers believe that cannabis fell prey to this phenomenon in 2018—but are hoping for growth in a more rational and realistic market in the coming year.

Nationwide cannabis shortages since Canada went legal last month are causing some provinces to rethink their distribution plans. Alberta has just announced that retail outlets will be barred from purchasing online but must place their orders manually to prevent the computerized system from being overwhelmed. Provincial authorities are struggling to break the logjam in the supply chain, and keep enough product in stock for those who purchase either online or from brick-and-mortar outlets.

Colombia is facing a strange contradiction—foreign capital is pouring in for the legalized cannabis sector, yet the new right-wing President Iván Duque is returning to the hardline "drug war" policies that the country has moved away from in recent years. This means not only a resumption of glyphosate spraying to wipe out illegal crops in the countryside, but an overturn of the former decriminalization policy. Street arrests for cannabis use and possession have soared since Duque issued his recrim decree.

On the first day of legal cannabis in Canada, many suppliers ran out of stock—pointing to challenges in meeting demand. Several provincial governments and private outlets turned to e-commerce company Shopify to help negotiate the initial tsunami of online sales.

Canada's postal unions are contemplating a nationwide walk-out—exactly as legal mail-order cannabis deliveries are set to begin. Talks are ongoing, but if the strike is not averted, cannabis consumers could be left high and dry—especially in those provinces that are relying mostly or entirely on home deliveries.