VIANARCHRIS
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Ontario plan to sell legal weed no match for B.C.'s existing industry
Stephanie Ip
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Published on: September 9, 2017 | Last Updated: September 9, 2017 1:55 PM PDT
Dana Larsen at The Dispensary medical cannabis clinic on East Hastings street in Vancouver, BC Thursday, July 14, 2016. Larsen says a model like the one recently announced in Ontario likely would not work in B.C. Jason Payne / PNG
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Ontario’s plan to sell marijuana from government-operated stores would never fly in B.C., a local pot advocate said.
Vancouver’s Dana Larsen suggested a provincial government store could never compete with established and independent dispensaries in offering the same variety of products that consumers seek – such as different strains and edibles – and that the Ontario government won’t be able to open shops fast enough to keep pace with demand.
“Police raids aside, I don’t think this model of legalization competes at all with what current dispensaries can offer,” he told Postmedia from Toronto, where he was attending the Karma Cup cannabis competition and festival on Saturday.
“The only way that they’re going to eliminate dispensaries under this model is repeated raids and that will not turn all those customers towards the legal stores – some of them might – but a lot of them will simply return to the underground black market where they came from.”
On Friday, the Ontario Liberal government announced its detailed plan to sell and distribute recreational marijuana in anticipation of the federal government’s legalization plans next summer. The province plans to set up as many as 150 dedicated store fronts across the province by 2020, with the shops being operated by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.
Those looking to buy will be subject to the same regulations and restrictions that apply to alcohol purchase and consumption; buyers must be 19 or older and consumption is permitted only in private residences. The first 40 stores will be opened next summer, around the same time Ontario introduces online marijuana sales.
There are estimated to be about 80 dispensaries operating in the city of Toronto. Meanwhile, a Postmedia report from 2016 noted there were roughly 75 dispensaries operating in Vancouver at the time, but that number, like much of the multi-million-dollar marijuana industry in B.C., continues to fluctuate and grow.
“I’m glad we’re having the discussion and moving forward on that but the whole system from the federal government down is not going to work and is going to require a big revamp as they move forward,” said Larsen.
While B.C. has yet to announce its own approach, the City of Vancouver has made moves to regulate private dispensaries, setting up its own regulatory framework and working its way through a long list of dispensaries that have applied for licences.
The federal government introduced legislation in April with a goal of legalizing and regulating the use of recreational pot by July 1, 2018, but left it up to individual provinces to design their own distribution system and usage regulations.
–with files from the Canadian Press
Stephanie Ip More from Stephanie Ip
Published on: September 9, 2017 | Last Updated: September 9, 2017 1:55 PM PDT
Dana Larsen at The Dispensary medical cannabis clinic on East Hastings street in Vancouver, BC Thursday, July 14, 2016. Larsen says a model like the one recently announced in Ontario likely would not work in B.C. Jason Payne / PNG
Share Adjust Comment Print
Ontario’s plan to sell marijuana from government-operated stores would never fly in B.C., a local pot advocate said.
Vancouver’s Dana Larsen suggested a provincial government store could never compete with established and independent dispensaries in offering the same variety of products that consumers seek – such as different strains and edibles – and that the Ontario government won’t be able to open shops fast enough to keep pace with demand.
“Police raids aside, I don’t think this model of legalization competes at all with what current dispensaries can offer,” he told Postmedia from Toronto, where he was attending the Karma Cup cannabis competition and festival on Saturday.
“The only way that they’re going to eliminate dispensaries under this model is repeated raids and that will not turn all those customers towards the legal stores – some of them might – but a lot of them will simply return to the underground black market where they came from.”
On Friday, the Ontario Liberal government announced its detailed plan to sell and distribute recreational marijuana in anticipation of the federal government’s legalization plans next summer. The province plans to set up as many as 150 dedicated store fronts across the province by 2020, with the shops being operated by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.
Those looking to buy will be subject to the same regulations and restrictions that apply to alcohol purchase and consumption; buyers must be 19 or older and consumption is permitted only in private residences. The first 40 stores will be opened next summer, around the same time Ontario introduces online marijuana sales.
There are estimated to be about 80 dispensaries operating in the city of Toronto. Meanwhile, a Postmedia report from 2016 noted there were roughly 75 dispensaries operating in Vancouver at the time, but that number, like much of the multi-million-dollar marijuana industry in B.C., continues to fluctuate and grow.
“I’m glad we’re having the discussion and moving forward on that but the whole system from the federal government down is not going to work and is going to require a big revamp as they move forward,” said Larsen.
While B.C. has yet to announce its own approach, the City of Vancouver has made moves to regulate private dispensaries, setting up its own regulatory framework and working its way through a long list of dispensaries that have applied for licences.
The federal government introduced legislation in April with a goal of legalizing and regulating the use of recreational pot by July 1, 2018, but left it up to individual provinces to design their own distribution system and usage regulations.
–with files from the Canadian Press
