Federally licensed cannabis producers can now promote their cannabis in BC by providing cannabis store licensees product samples for a nominal fee.
The Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch announced this anticipated change on September 25.
What’s Changing
Cannabis retail stores and product retail stores and their employees can accept samples from a federal license holder but are not allowed to supply cannabis samples to other cannabis licensees.
There is no prescribed maximum size for cannabis samples, but cannabis samples are expected to be of ‘reasonable size and quantity’ and should have little retail value. A sample cannot be used for any type of inducement.
Providing cannabis samples to patrons and consuming cannabis in a store remain prohibited. Licensees must keep records relating to cannabis samples.
The changes to the license terms and conditions are reflected in the updated Cannabis Retail Store and Producer Retail Store Licensee Handbooks.
Industry Feedback
The regulatory change is in response to industry feedback. In August, the LCRB announced it was reviewing the rules about sampling between licensees.
Jaclynn Pehota, Executive Director of the Retail Cannabis Council of BC, said allowing cannabis sampling in the province would add a level of transparency and marketing support without being in conflict with the intent of the Cannabis Act.
Other provinces including Alberta, Ontario, and Saskatchewan also allow cannabis sampling.
Future Changes
The LCRB says this change is a first step in helping federal license holders to promote cannabis with samples while meeting legislative requirements.
To further support the cannabis industry, the regulatory body continues to explore future regulatory solutions that will allow cannabis stores to provide samples to other licensees and allow all marketing licensees to accept and provide samples to other licensees.
BC’s provincial government is also reviewing restrictions on the cannabis retail license cap and the places people can consume cannabis.