Self-Reported Cannabis Prices and Expenditures From Legal and Illegal Sources Five Years After Legalisation of Non-Medical Cannabis in Canada

Introduction

The price of cannabis has important implications for many outcomes discussed in legalisation debates. This paper reports on legal and illegal prices of different cannabis products.

Methods

National surveys were conducted in 2022 and 2023 among Canadians aged 16–65 years as part of the International Cannabis Policy Study. Self-reported price, purchase quantity and legal versus illegal source of the‘last’ cannabis purchased was examined from 2686 respondents who used cannabis in the past 12 months for nine cannabis product types.

Results

On average, consumers report that 78% of all their cannabis came from legal sources in the past year. Differences in the self-reported price paid between legal and illegal purchases varied by product type. Price per unit was higher from legal sources for dried flower (+23.8%, p < 0.001), vapes (+18.7%, p = 0.006) and hash (+38.4%, p < 0.001), and lower for capsules (−28.4%, p = 0.008). No statistically significant difference was found for drops (−3.3%. p = 0.76), edibles (+3.9%, p = 0.49), cannabis drinks (−8.8%, p = 0.21), concentrates (+13.8%, p = 0.15) and tinctures (−17.0%, p = 0.28). Substantial quantity discounts for dried flower were observed from both legal and illegal sources.

Discussion and Conclusion

Differences between legal and illegal cannabis prices have narrowed considerably, likely due to declines in the price of cannabis from legal stores since the opening of legal markets in Canada. Some differences are expected across the two markets considering differences in standard quantities purchased and the presence of quantity discounts in these markets. Analyses omitting purchase quantity may overestimate the price differential between legal and illegal sources.