Cannabis store licensing raising concerns

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This article was published 18/01/2024 (648 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s not a surprise that cannabis stores have become a growth sector in the commercial real estate business.

There are now close to 120 of them in Winnipeg. They are age-restricted — you have to be 19 to enter — with storefronts covered so that passersby are not able to actually see the cannabis products from the street as well as an array of security features.

Among other things, that’s so that young people do not have exposure to the product.

But what might not be so well known is that there are also convenience stores and small grocery stores where cannabis is also legally available in Winnipeg.

Called “controlled access” licences as opposed to “age-restricted” stores, most in the industry understood such licences were designed so that rural or remote communities would also have access to legal, safe and regulated cannabis.

But according to an anecdotal count, eight of the 11 “controlled access” licences in Manitoba are in the city of Winnipeg.

It’s an issue that is starting to raise the eyebrows of some mainstream cannabis retailers who are concerned about young people having exposure but also about potential disruption in the market. (What if some of the large convenience store chains decided to go after cannabis licences?)

When the provincial licensing process was launched in 2018 its stated goal was that within two years of legalization 90 per cent of Manitobans would be able to access legal cannabis within a 30-minute drive or less.

The understanding was that the controlled access licences could be applied for by rural gas station operators or general stores in smaller communities.

Kerri Michell, the president of Farmer Jane, a Regina-based cannabis retailer that has six stores in Winnipeg and nine in Saskatchewan, said she and others see the number of such controlled access stores in Winnipeg as a concern.

While they don’t want to shut anybody down, they are hopeful that regulations might be tightened in the future.

“There really isn’t a concern around access to safe cannabis in Winnipeg,” she said. “So I don’t think it makes sense (having convenience stores in the city also licensed to sell cannabis) when there are stores that have invested time, effort and money and are treating it as an exceptional experience sometimes with a selection of more than 200 products available.”

In Saskatchewan — the only other province that offers a different kind of licence — those “controlled access” licences are restricted to communities with a population of 2,500 or less.

Omar Khan, communications and public affairs officer for High Tide Inc., a company with about 160 cannabis stores mostly in Western Canada, is hoping the province will address the issue.

“The previous PC government brought in these controlled access licenses to ensure rural and northern communities would have access to legal cannabis,” he said. “Unfortunately, the original framework didn’t include any guardrails and as such, most of these special licenses appear to be located within convenience stores in the city of Winnipeg, and not in underserved communities.”

He likes the Saskatchewan model and plans to meet with the province next month to talk about that.

“We will be asking Manitoba’s new NDP government to add restrictions to these licenses so that in future, they can only be valid for locations within communities that truly lack access to legal cannabis through age restricted cannabis stores,” he said.

A spokesperson from Liquor, Gaming, Cannabis Authority of Manitoba noted that all licence holders are subject to the same public safety and security requirements, including video surveillance, restricted access to storage areas and restricted access by young persons.

That also includes preventing displaying cannabis packaging and labels in a way that might be seen by minors.

“Manitoba’s Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Control Act requires retailers with an age-restricted licence do this by ensuring that the interior of their store cannot be viewed from the outside,” the spokesperson said. “Controlled-access stores must ensure all cannabis packages and labels are stored behind a counter or behind shelving with covers that prevent persons from viewing them.”

It was acknowledged that Manitoba is aware of what Saskatchewan is doing and “is monitoring the current review of the federal Cannabis Act… and the impact for Manitoba of any changes to the federal legislation.”

Meanwhile Farmer Jane is trying something different on its own.

It’s newest store in Winnipeg — Lucy’s Cannabis & Munchie Market — includes chips and candy as well as a DVD borrowing service.

But you still have to be 19 to enter.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca