The National Post reports in its Wednesday edition that as a provincial workers strike enters its second week, progress in supplanting British Columbia's illicit weed market is quickly going up in smoke. The Post's Bryan Passifiume writes that industry insiders warn legal weed shortages brought about by the B.C. General Employees' Union job action -- compounded with this month's third-party vendor computer hack that crippled Ontario's pot industry -- demonstrates the fragility of government-run provincial monopolies of Canada's cannabis supply chain. Retail Cannabis Council of B.C. director Jaclynn Pehota says the situation is dire among the province's licensed cannabis retailers. She says she is looking at "between 50 and 70 per cent of private retailers closing their doors in B.C. due to product shortages." Union members walked off the job Aug. 15, picketing provincial liquor and cannabis distribution centres seeking higher, inflation-adjusted wages. The strike cut B.C.'S legal pot shops from their only permitted supplier of inventory, resulting in store closures and fears customers will turn to the black market. Ms. Pehota says the supply chain needs to diversify to better deal with supply disruptions.