by MorinvilleNews.com Staff
February is a month of romance, and the Government of Alberta is planning to show some love for the cannabis industry on Jan. 31 when it simplifies cannabis regulations.
The government says it has been reviewing the market to see “what’s working, what needs to be improved and what’s redundant.”
Effective Jan. 31, licensed cannabis retailers can operate temporary sales locations at adults-only events like trade shows and festivals.
They can also keep their products in locked display cases when the store is closed. Currently everything must be removed each day to a secured storage room.
The province is also removing restrictions on sales and transfers between cannabis retailers and to further allow Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis to establish resale markup limits.
“We’ve been looking at the cannabis market to determine what’s working, what needs to be improved and what’s redundant or unnecessary, while protecting public health and safety,” said Dale Nally, Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction in a media release. “These changes are the result of our latest work to help curb the illegal cannabis industry and continue providing choices Albertans can trust.”
Other policy changes include removing restrictions for retail cannabis store signage to allow for more flexibility in store names, and simplifying age verification for online licensed cannabis websites that more closely align with those in other provinces. Additionally, the government is providing cannabis retailers with the option to open for business at 9 a.m. and authorizing licensed producers and their reps to give cannabis samples to retail cannabis store licensees to promote products and increase product knowledge.
The government says the regulation changes will reduce barriers and costs for legal cannabis retailers, something they feel will help them combat the illegal market by increasing the competitive advantage of legal retailers.
