VICTORIA - British Columbia's government says the first batch of legal marijuana edibles, extracts and topical will soon be available for purchase, two months after they were legalized in Canada.

The province says it received its first shipments of the products Wednesday and has made them available to private and public retailers via its wholesale customer portal.

The Ministry of Attorney General says consumers can expect to see them on store shelves by the end of the month, based on shipping schedules.

The province's liquor control branch is the only wholesale distributor of non-medical cannabis in B.C.

Although it has registered more than 260 different products under the newly legal categories, the ministry says only a small number are expected to be available for retail sale within the first few months of 2020.

It says a number of factors influence product availability, including the ability of manufacturers to meet demand from other markets across Canada.