Cannabis retailers green-lighted to reopen

Cannabis retailers to reopen with online and curbside services

ONTARIO’S LICENSED CANNABIS retailers are reopening following an emergency order approved by the provincial cabinet on Tuesday but will do so on a limited basis with the intent of curtailing the illegal pot market.

The province passed an emergency order Tuesday allowing retailers to sell cannabis through an online or phone ordering system where customers can pick up their orders at the store.

It will also allow retailers to deliver orders to customers if their sales associates are trained under the provincial training program run by CannSell, a regulated program run by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. The order will last for the next 14 days but could be extended if the government’s Emergency Order on business closures is extended.

“We’ve been working closely with the Government of Ontario on ways to support cannabis retail store operators and legal recreational cannabis consumers since the stores were ordered to close following a provincial order declaring a state of emergency,” said Jean Major, registrar and CEO of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. “This new measure helps address consumer demand and maintain a revenue stream for store operators while supporting the government’s broader objectives.”

Ontario’s 52 legal cannabis retailers closed their doors Saturday after the province deemed them a non-essential service for at least 14 days to help contain the spread of COVID-19. However, the move created an environment where the illicit market could thrive in the absence of any legal cannabis retailers.