B.C. liquor store workers want to deck their shelves with legalized recreational pot in time for Christmas 2016.
The B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union (BCGEU) and the B.C. Private Liquor Store Association (BCPLSA) announced Wednesday (December 2) they were partnering up to advocate for the sale of pot through their existing distribution and retail systems.
The partners, who are calling themselves the Responsible Marijuana Retail Alliance of B.C., said the age-controlled stores provide an ideal environment for sales.
The group said it would only distribute and sell recreational marijuana, not medical marijuana.
Deepak Anand, executive director of the Canadian National Medical Marijuana Association, said it’s a viable business model as far as optics go but he doesn’t believe medical users will be big fans.
“The reasons why we have dispensaries, particularly in Vancouver and now in Toronto and a number of other places in the country, is because patients are seeking access to not just product but also counselling and other stuff dispensaries are providing them in terms of their services,” he said.
Anand said it’s still possible some medical marijuana may move into the recreational market if those products were available in liquor stores.
“But if you look at patients that are using this for purely and strictly medical reasons such as end of life care or palliative care as well as children that are seeing issues with epilepsy and seizures — those two groups particularly — I don’t see them moving over to the recreational use side.”
Anand added it may still be too early to speculate since Ottawa has yet to introduce any legislation that would regulate the use of recreational cannabis.
The B.C. Ministry of Justice also said in a statement it was too early to speculate on future legislation or the implementation of such a proposal.
“Marijuana control is a federal responsibility and B.C. will continue to monitor and would participate in any consultation the Government of Canada may conduct around proposed changes,” the ministry said.
The Department of Justice in Ottawa did not immediately reply to an interview request from Business in Vancouver.
