Mississauga Considering Lifting Ban on Dispensaries

Welcome to Mississauga – a population of 2 million people who have not had access to legal cannabis in their own city! It has recently been announced that Mississauga will revisit this decision. 

By revisiting the decision to allow legal cannabis stores – this will provide a great detail of retail opportunities for Mississauga residents and also an opportunity to compete with the online cannabis sales and cannabis delivery services.

In order to make this important decision, Mississauga is completing a report that will be brought to council on June 9th. 

The report aims to explore the areas in which people are interested in opening a cannabis shop and look at the specific jurisdictions of the area. 

CAN MISSISSAUGA DISPENSARIES COMPETE WITH ONLINE DISPENSARIES AND DELIVERY SERVICES?

Mississauga Councillor Karen Ras has been actively engaging with this issue. One of the factors that Ras recognizes was not considered in 2018 was the competition and existence of online cannabis dispensaries. It is Ras’s understanding that most of the unlicensed dispensaries that did exist in Mississauga have now moved to online cannabis delivery. Ras wants the focus of the investigation and decision to be on the safety of the public. 

When taking into consideration access to cannabis – a legal substance in Canada as of 2018 – Ras has focused on the equity of the issue. She stands by the belief that Mississauga residents should not have to travel outside of Mississauga in order to buy a legal substance. She also goes on to compare the treatment of cannabis stores to that of alcohol. Cannabis has been treated with a prescriptive approach, which is drastically different from any beer or alcohol sales in the area. 

June 9th will be an important day for Mississauga residents, Councillor Ras and hopefully cannabis retailers as we will learn whether the other councillors are interested in moving forward.

In the past the vote for cannabis retail stores has been underwhelming – with only two councillors voting in favour. Ras is confident that there will be more than one vote to go with her. She believes that introducing cannabis retail stores to the Mississauga area will only be beneficial for all!

It is important to note that since 2018 when cannabis was legalized in Canada – the unlicensed cannabis market has noticed a drop in sales (according to unverified data). As reported by the Marijuana Business Daily – the unlicensed cannabis game peaked in the final quarter before legalization in 2018 but has been on a decline since. 

benefits oF dispensaries in Mississauga

In 2020, like most things in the world, the cannabis retail world flipped – and licensed retail stores are said to finally surpassing the online cannabis sales from online dispensaries. This is proof of Canada’s successful nationwide legalization. 

But it is not just about the money – and now there are many towns and cities all across Canada who can attest to the benefit of legal cannabis stores. In Calgary, the opening of legal cannabis retail stores has contributed heavily to youth consumption going down. With the regulations put in place – it keeps everyone safe. 

There are many that believe a move to legal cannabis dispensaries will be beneficial to protect the kids in the area and the overall public health through regulation and responsible retailers.

Final Thoughts

You do not have to look far to see the success of the legal cannabis retail stores – Mississauga’s neighbour Toronto is clear proof. With Toronto’s extensive cannabis dispensary rollout they have seen a significant increase in sales.

 In just one year Toronto was able to double the cannabis sales from $17 million to $40 million. Those are numbers you just can’t ignore.

Vancouver has always been known for its lax attitude towards the cannabis community but that does not mean that legalization was not needed. Just like Toronto, Vancouver was able to double their sales in just one year. 

At the end of the day, the reality is, cannabis is legal and people want to purchase it as easily as anything else! Hopefully on June 9th the Mississauga council will listen to the information gathered by councillor Ras and reconsider the current ban on cannabis dispensaries. Regardless of the outcome, Quadzilla Cannabis will always be providing Same Day Delivery in Mississauga.