The supply of cannabis was so low this week at the Sydney River, N.S., store that NSLC closed it four hours early Monday and didn't reopen until Tuesday afternoon.

"With the inventory that we had on hand in the Sydney River store, we really weren't able to serve our customers appropriately, so we decided to close the store at 6 o'clock," said NSLC spokesperson Bev Ware.

When the store reopened at 3 p.m. Tuesday, there was a lineup of about 80 people inside and outside the store.

"Oh my God, it's frustrating," said Cindy Dalley who drove from Port Hawkesbury and waited outside for an hour and a half for the store to open. "Why they run out, I don't know."

Morgan Hancock travelled from Sydney Mines and also ended up in line.

"You don't want to wait," she said. "There's a lot of people that rely on it."

Ware said supplies are a problem across the country.

"In Nova Scotia, we tend to be experiencing shortages with the small packages and also with the oils and the gel caps."

She said the NSLC started with less than 40 per cent of the inventory it ordered from licensed producers.

Shelves were restocked Tuesday with dried flower products, but the shortage of cannabis oil and gel caps will take longer to rectify.

"We don't have a date from the supplier as to when that inventory will arrive," Ware said.

She said she expects it will take up to three months for the supply chain to run smoothly.