The Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) has made amendments to its Retail Cannabis Store Handbook and the Cannabis Representative Handbook Cannabis.

In a November 28 bulletin, the provincial cannabis regulator noted several updates to the two relevant handbooks to cannabis retailers and registered cannabis representatives. AGLC is responsible for overseeing relationships among cannabis suppliers, cannabis representatives and cannabis licensees.

One change allows cannabis retailers to now use their secure cannabis rooms for more than just the storage of cannabis, and another allows cannabis stores to now sell lighter fluid refills. The policy that previously didn’t allow the off-site sales of non-cannabis items has also been removed.

The rest of the changes are related to advertising and promotion, primarily to create more clarity of existing policies. 

For example, cannabis suppliers, cannabis representatives and licensees are now specifically responsible for ensuring their advertising, including any advertising conducted jointly or by a third party, complies with all legislation and these policies.

Other changes/clarifications include:

• Advertising may not include content that displays or identifies a cannabis product or accessory.
• The definition of “Product Promotion” now includes activities not only within licensed premises.
• Clarification on how cannabis representatives and retail cannabis store licensees are permitted to promote cannabis products.
• Promotion outside of places where persons under the age of 18 are prohibited from entering by law must: a) be directly communicated (i.e. mail-outs, email, etc.) to an individual, by name, who has been confirmed to be 18 years of age or older; or b) include reasonable steps in online promotion to ensure that persons under the age of 18 cannot access the promotion (i.e., age verification)
• Free cannabis or cannabis accessories are now prohibited in the promotion of cannabis products and accessories (this does not apply to sampling to retailers).

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