FIONA FAMULAK
BRITISH COLUMBIA – The BC Chamber of Commerce, together with BC Chamber Cannabis Working Group, applauds the provincial government’s announcement that licensed cannabis retailers will be able to deliver non-medical cannabis products directly to consumers starting July 15, 2021. Within the announcement, government also stated it will be removing security verification requirements for cannabis workers.
The announcement represents a policy win for the BC Chamber of Commerce. At the provincial association’s 2020 AGM and Conference, the Chamber network approved a policy resolution that calls on the provincial government to enable BC’s cannabis economy in ways that include:
- Enabling better access to legal cannabis in order to extinguish the illicit market that exists and improve consumer health and safety;
- Reducing regulations that cause operational inefficiencies for licensed retailers that do not contribute to high health and safety standards for consumers and producers; and
- Reviewing tax policy related to cannabis.
“Kiaro is excited about the decision to allow private regulated retailers to compete with the BC government’s online cannabis store starting on July 15, and to remove a process where employees in the cannabis retail sector had to undergo the worker security verification requirement – a process which stigmatized cannabis employees and charged them over $100 to start work in the retail sector,” said Eleanor Lynch, Chief Operating Officer at Kiaro and co-chair of the BC Chamber Cannabis Working Group. “Along with Pure Sunfarms and other members of the Cannabis Working Group, we applaud the BC government for taking a progressive stand on these issues, and positioning BC as the leader in the cannabis industry, one of the top performing economic drivers in Canada.”
“Allowing licensed retailers to deliver non-medical cannabis directly to consumers and removing security verification requirements for cannabis workers, are meaningful steps to protect public health and safety and improve the viability of the legal cannabis sector,” said Fiona Famulak, president and CEO of the BC Chamber of Commerce. “And there is much work still to do. We look forward to continuing to work with the provincial government and stakeholders to ensure that regulatory changes introduced protect consumers and unlock B.C.’s burgeoning cannabis sector.”
