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Photo by Jim Wells / Postmedia

That later date will probably be the case, noted Michelle Russell, executive director of the Alberta Cannabis Council (ACC).

“I think Health Canada is trying to lower the expectations of consumers,” she said of the federal agency overseeing the process nationally.

“We would be very fortunate, and I’d be surprised, if we saw it on store shelves for Christmas; it might be more like early 2020.”

It wouldn’t be surprising, said Russell, if consumers and retailers experience supply constraints similar to what plagued sales of the plant’s dried flower, which led to a six-month moratorium on new store approvals in Alberta.

“The supply chain of those products from producer to consumer remains the same,” she said.

It’s even possible the supply of dried flower could be constrained by next fall, said Mike (Kato) Tomiyama, chief operating officer of retailer Four20 Premium Market.

“It could actually encroach on the dried flower side, if a lot of the flower is used to make edibles,” he said.

But an ever-increasing number of licensed producers, whose number is now approaching 200 in Canada, will likely mitigate those concerns, added Tomiyama.

Some producers and retailers have been critical of federal regulations limiting edibles to single-package THC doses of 10 mg, concerned this will produce a deluge of garbage due to the materials needed to package these small doses.

But Russell is in favour of an approach that she said is aimed at protecting the consumer and public health. Those regulations also demand edible products lack a colourful quality that could be attractive to children.