Municipalities in the Yukon say there is a need for public consumption spaces in the Territory to provide a legal space for tourists to smoke cannabis when visiting. 

Currently, cannabis consumption is only allowed in a private residence in the Yukon, and adjoining property, although the Territory’s regulations do allow for other possibilities for other types of locations in the future. 

Despite this ban, in a recent survey, municipalities told the territory about what they say are high rates of cannabis smoking and vaping in outdoor public spaces. The territory sees hundreds of thousands of tourists annually, a significant part of the economy. 

This call for public cannabis spaces was just one of many pieces of feedback provided to the Yukon government as part of its recently released five-year review of its cannabis legislation and regulations, as well as the overall impact of federal legalization. 

In a new What We Heard report, which helped to inform its Five Year Review report, an array of issues are highlighted from the 307 responses received, as well as engagement with First Nations, municipalities and local advisory councils, RCMP, MADD, and many other organizations and government officials.

Among the feedback and recommendations:

• Concern with “normalization” and public consumption, overall health risks, youth use rates, and impaired driving, including consumption while driving.
• Concern about illicit online stores and what RCMP say are challenges with enforcement.
• Call for more education of the general public about the harms and effects of cannabis. 
• Better insight is into how the government uses cannabis tax revenues.
• Municipalities expressed concern with excess packaging leading to litter.
• Retailers want to be able to sell products other than cannabis, like t-shirts, water bottles or snacks, and offer loyalty programs. Some would like to buy cannabis directly from producers.
• More clarity around what constitutes a “THC unit” for proper dosing.

Yukon cannabis industry

The five-year review also notes some statistics about the overall result of the industry in the territory in the first five years of legalization. 

The legal cannabis market in the most western of the three territories has grown from just over $2 million in 2018/19 to $13 million in 2023/24. More than 80% of Yukoners acquired their cannabis from legal sources within the territory. 

Yukon has six cannabis retailers which employ around 40 people. Cannabis distribution is overseen by the Yukon Liquor Corporation (YLC). Wholesale-to-retailer sales went from $3.5 million in 2019-2020 to $9.2 million in 2023-2024.

The territory sold 495,850 units of pre-rolls from 2018-2023 and 448,993 units of dried flower (all SKU sizes). Edibles sold more often than vapes (272,775 vs 136,233).

During the 2023/24 fiscal year, the Yukon Liquor Corporation remitted $369,000 to the Government of Yukon’s general revenues in relation to cannabis. The Yukon government received $952,639 from its share of the federal cannabis excise tax. The report says the Yukon government uses all cannabis-related profits for general government services and programming.

Cannabis laws

There were 73 total violations from cannabis-related charges from 2019-2023, the majority (40) for unauthorized possession/care and control in a vehicle. There was one reported charge for public consumption in this time period. 

Public Health

Cannabis-related emergency department visits increased from 40 in 2016 to 104 in 2021 (with a drop in 2020) before declining significantly to 50 in 2023. There were 275 emergency room visits related to cannabis use in the five years before legalization and 471 in the five years after. The paper notes this could be due to an increase in consumption or because people felt more comfortable presenting at an emergency room with a cannabis-related issue after its use became legal. 

While the rate of cannabis use among young people remains a concern, the age at which Yukoners say they first tried or started using cannabis has increased with legalization, from 18.9 in 2018 to 20.8 in 2023.  

Those who report consuming cannabis actually declined from 2022-2023 for those 16-35 and over 56, while it stayed the same for those 36-55.

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