For months, retailers across Canada have been facing product shortages. But CBD oil may be the hardest to keep on shelves.
Licensed producers largely did not anticipate the popularity of CBD, assuming most of the demand would be for product high in THC. A 2018 change in US law—the passing of the Farm Bill, which allows for the growing of hemp for the purposes of extracting CBD—and subsequent media coverage and celebrity use of CBD also fuelled this popularity.
Provinces across the country, including New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and BC, are expressing concern over product supply, saying demand for recreational CBD far exceeded expectations and caught suppliers off guard.
Regulations could also be to blame. The Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA) and the Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA) recently called for improvements to CBD regulations, saying current laws are prolonging shortages and “enabling a large and growing illegal market for unregulated CBD products of unknown purity, potency, and provenance.”
CBD, also known as cannabidiol, is non-psychoactive and found in abundance in hemp and cannabis plants. Recognized benefits include anti-anxiety, anti-inflammatory, and anti-seizure properties.
Photo courtesy of Caleb Simpson.