Lineups continue at Calgary cannabis stores

The buzz hasn't worn off when it comes to buying legal cannabis in Calgary.

Queues at two cannabis stores that opened on the first day of legalization were hundreds deep throughout the day Wednesday and it was a similar scene on Day 2 of legalization.

"We thought today we might catch our breath before getting ready for the weekend," Ryan Kaye, vice-president of operations at Four20 Premier Market, said Thursday afternoon.

• Legal cannabis draws huge lineups as stores open in Calgary

"This morning at 8 a.m. I got here and there was two people in line and by 10 a.m. we were back to 150. We're just trying to get people in as soon as we can but making sure that we don't have more people than we're allowed to in the store."

Four20 Premium Market was one of two stores to open in Calgary, along with Nova Cannabis, but dozens more cannabis retail stores are expected to open across the city in the coming days.

Kaye said prices for cannabis flower, oil and pre-rolled joints will go down as supply stabilizes.

"Personally, I believe these are the highest prices we will see in this regulated market," he said. "The supply-demand dynamics are still so in flux, we're at the point where we have probably the maximum product to supply ratio in the market right now. I can see a gradual decrease over the next year or two as the large scale facilities come online, the cost to licenced producers continues to drop and those savings continue to be passed on to the consumer.

"It's just going to take a bit of time."

One of the goals of legalization is to wipe out the marijuana black market and Kaye figures that won't happen overnight.

"This is early days and this is a process, not an event," he said. "It took five years in Colorado for them to, they believe, get rid of the illicit market, we're at day two it just takes time for the market to fill out."

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