The CCSI moved higher by 6.5% to C$7.55 per gram this week, from last week’s C$7.09 per gram. This is the first week since the one ending March 1st that we have observed price movement of a magnitude greater than 5%. This week’s price equates to US$2,546 per pound at current exchange rates.

This week we take a look at cannabis usage in Canada during the first quarter of 2019. Statistics Canada conducts the National Cannabis Survey each quarter to assess changes in demand amongst Canadians as recreational cannabis supply and availability increases. The survey reports 5.3 million or 18% of Canadians aged 15 years and older reported using cannabis in the last three months. This was 27% higher than the previous quarter, with 646,000 new individuals reporting cannabis use for the first time in Q1 2019. Initial data from the survey also indicates that more users obtained cannabis from the legal markets. An estimated 47% of cannabis users or 2.5 million Canadians obtained cannabis from legal sources in the first three months of 2019.

Cannabis use continued to be higher among males than females.

Alberta took the top spot for cannabis usage with 22% of the population buying either legal or illegal cannabis. Ontario and British Columbia followed closely, with Quebec showing the lowest usage.