Because Ontario truly screwed the pooch on this one, like it usually does. Ontario is a dumbfuck, and if anything is going to be done the stupid way, that's how Ontario will do it. Other provinces are probably doing fine - especially Alberta, because it's different.

They switched gears for what their distribution model was going to be in mid-stream, so that Ontario had fuck all for stores and a totally fucked up system well after legalization settled down in other provinces, resulting in Ontarians still using the black market even today.

Now check Alberta, which hung its marijunana distribution on top of the PUBLIC-PRIVATE system that the "evil" RALPH KLEIN (aka, Alberta's Donald Trump, but with booze instead of money) set up as soon as he took office (because he was a drunk and there was no way no how anyone was going to tell him he couldn't have beer on Sunday). The province does the wholesaling, but private stores sell to the public. It works very well here with absolutely NO reason to use the BM, at least if you're not somewhere isolated; and even then, the provinces each do run their own online stores.

Yeah, Ontario - the one jurisdiction dumb enough to lose money at selling dope. I was born there, why do you think I hate it and left?