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The B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch rang up more than 21,000 cannabis transactions during the first seven days of legalization, nearly half of which occurred on Day 1.

The BCLDB says there were 17,266 online sales completed between Oct. 17 and 23, while a further 4,014 sales were made at the province’s lone B.C. Cannabis Store in Kamloops.

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Photo by JONATHAN HAYWARD / THE CANADIAN PRESS

On Oct. 17 alone, the first day of cannabis legalization in Canada, there were 9,100 online sales registered at bccannabisstores.com and 800 transactions completed at the Kamloops pot shop.

Despite being the sole wholesale distributor of non-medical cannabis in B.C., the BCLDB is declining to release more specific figures relating to cannabis sales.

A Postmedia News request for first-week dollar figures was denied by the branch.

“We will not be releasing sales figures, and moving forward we will be providing cumulative transaction totals only,” the BCLDB said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the branch later said that the reason for that decision was because the government was operating a mixed private and public retail cannabis model, so sales amounts are considered competitive information.