Cannabis producers are afraid that Canada is going to be the prime dominator in the market. On 17 October 2019, alternative cannabis products such as drinks, edibles, and topicals became legal for production, and were expected to be available for sale two months later. Deloitte has predicted that the alternative cannabis product market will be worth close to $2.7 billion. Due to illegality of cannabis federally in the United States, crossing the international border from Canada into the United States while carrying cannabis is still illegal. Past consumption of cannabis can also lead to a permanent ban on entry to the U.S. 2019 sales volume An October 2019 report stated that total cannabis sales for the first seven months of the year were only C$524 million when C$4.34 billion (US$3.29 billion) was forecast a year ago. Sales were modest because of the limited number of retail operations in Ontario and Quebec where some 23 million people resided; each province had only 25 outlets, as of October 2019. The relatively high cost of the legal product – almost double that of the black market – and the limited types of product (dried flower and oils) also worked against retail sales. In late 2019, more stores were being opened and a wider range of legal cannabis was becoming available, including edibles, topicals, and vaping products. Profitability was a problem however, according to a report in early November 2019 which stated, "pot stocks down nearly 60 per cent since March highs". This was leading companies to sell off real estate holdings as a method of raising capital to finance expansion. Competing with the black market A report in October 2019 by Bloomberg News painted a bleak picture of the legal cannabis industry. Because of the relatively few retail outlets, especially in Ontario, and the high retail prices, the black market remained persistent. An independent cannabis research firm estimated that the black market accounted for 86% of cannabis sales. On average, on a Canada-wide basis, legal cannabis was selling for about $10.23 per gram versus $5.59 found on the black market according to StatsCan. The province of Ontario tooks steps in 2020 to increase the number of retail licenses issued per month to increase the availability of legal cannabis, in order to combat the illicit market. The market share of legal cannabis products has since risen rapidly, with a Statistics Canada analysis suggesting that