Most local retailers are going online. Cannabis can’t.

While other industries have been put through the coronavirus grinder, the worldwide pandemic has been good for cannabis sales. 

More Canadians bought legal weed in 2020 than they did the year previous, according to Stats Can, and while sales at Spiritleaf Jasper aren’t exactly blazing, the cannabis retailer is doing regular business, despite the irregular number of visitors in town.

To prevent minors from buying it, online cannabis sales outside of the AGLC’s own government website is illegal. So to get their THC bath bombs or extra strength body cream, customers still need to visit local retail outlets.

“It’s been fairly steady,” store manager Dave Ireland said. “I think we’re a needed resource for a lot of people.”

If judging his latest quarter against a similar, pre-lockdown financial period is like comparing apples to oranges, what is tangible evidence about the market’s growth is that Ireland’s customer base is becoming ever-more diverse. His staff sees more seniors these days, for example, attributable, at least in part, to the fact that the government has legalized more products containing THC.

 “We’re seeing people who don’t want to smoke return to cannabis,” Ireland said.