A cannabis store in Kelowna, BC, will have to close for a week in April after an employee was alleged to have sold cannabis to a minor.

The minor worked for BC’s Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB) as part of the province’s Minors as Agents Program (MAP).

The penalty for such an offence is a minimum $7,000 fine or closing the business for seven days. The store, Prime Cannabis, opted for the seven days, scheduled to begin on April 3, 2024.

The incident occurred during an LCRB inspection on November 30, 2023.  Following standard procedure for such a visit, an adult inspector conducted an in-store risk assessment before giving the 16-year-old minor agent the clearance to enter the store. 

The minor entered the store and purchased a single pack of cannabis-infused gummies, paying cash. The employee working at the time did not check her ID. Upon leaving the store, the minor handed the product to one of the two adult LCRB agents. The other agent re-entered the store to inform the employee that they had just sold cannabis to a minor, an offence under BC’s regulations.

In their defence, the owner of Prime Cannabis, which has two other locations in addition to the Kelowna store, one in West Kelowna and one in Cranbrook, says they have internal policies instructing employees to check IDs. However, the March 6 ruling concluded that the store’s owner had not taken enough steps to ensure employees properly followed such rules. 

One oversight noted in the ruling was a lack of a written checklist that can demonstrate proof of the content of in-store training and the time spent on various topics.

“I note the absence of written documentation: no training checklist, no written quizzes, no printed text messages about ongoing reminders,” states the final ruling. “A written checklist is particularly important when staff in the three stores are being trained by different people. Signing off on a checklist by both the trainer and the trainee can demonstrate what topics were followed and the time spent on each.”

The licensee can apply for a reconsideration of the compliance order within 30 days of receiving a copy of the ruling. 

Prime Cannabis is not the first cannabis store to be caught up in the MAPs program. In February of this year, another cannabis store in Kelowna was issued a $7,000 fine for failing to check the ID of a minor in the BC government’s program. The targeted inspection was in July 2023.

BC is sometimes more lenient in its rulings. In a case heard in 2023, ​​it was found that a cannabis retailer was not responsible when an employee failed to check the ID of a customer. This was because the store demonstrated that it had an extensive training program in place. 

While the employee was fired for their oversight, the retailer, in that instance, did not have to face a $7,000 monetary penalty or shut down for seven days.

“Prime Cannabis takes full ownership over our mistake in not ID’ing and serving a minor,” said Rob Anderson, the owner of Prime Cannabis in an email to StratCann. “We take ID’ing very seriously and have increased our minimum age to ID to 40 years old. We self-audit ourselves regularly through secret shoppers. Ultimately, there is no excuse and we own our mistake.  

“We regret the inconvenience we will cause our customers not being able to provide them with product during the week of closure.  We hope our customers will continue to support us, and we will be offering a 10% discount the entire week of reopening after serving our licence suspension.”

A cannabis store in Penticton hopes to become one of the first cannabis stores in the province with a designated consumption area. 

Cannabis Cottage, located in downtown Penticton, says it hopes to have its grand opening for the outdoor consumption space on April 20, bringing in food trucks, local artists, and performers.

The store owner, Marianna Wolff, says she chose the location for her store, on a major thoroughfare in the city’s downtown, because it had a large front yard that could serve as a lounge space for customers. 

Initially, BC’s rules did not allow for such a consumption space, but a rule change announced in February of this year finally made it possible. That rule change made it so that existing patio spaces where smoking and vaping of tobacco products are allowed can now also allow cannabis use. 

It also made it so that cannabis stores, like Cannabis Cottage, can advertise consumption spaces. BC first engaged the public about these proposed changes in 2023 as part of a broader industry outreach initiative.

“We are totally thrilled,” says Wolff. “This was what we were hoping to do from the beginning. We secured a space with the hope that at some point the government would allow for consumption spaces as well. So right now we’re just jumping over the moon.”

She says she has worked with her neighbours, which includes a church, to ensure they are okay with the use of the outdoor space as a lounge. All of them gave their approval. The parish members did ask that no consumption occur during the operating hours of its Sunday School, something Wolff said she was happy to accommodate. 

She says she chose the space specifically because it was not near areas like parks or schools, and would have the approval of its neighbours. 

“The spot itself I feel is very indicative of spaces that can be good candidates for outdoor cannabis consumption without disrupting anybody who doesn’t necessarily want to have to smell it.”

Cannabis Cottage first experimented with bringing in local food trucks during a customer appreciation event last fall.

“It was very successful. It was a great show of how you can have designated space for people to enjoy their cannabis in a similar way that you might go to a brewery and enjoy a beer or go to a winery patio and enjoy a glass of wine.”

The format is similar to one taken by a cannabis retailer in Cumberland, BC, on Vancouver Island. 

Max Oudendag has been assisting Michael Arneja, the owner of Cumberland, BC’s Trugreen Cannabis, on a large outdoor community space that will include a formal cannabis consumption area.

“We’re excited to be in a position to explore how to break down the stigma of cannabis consumption and find a way to integrate that into a healthy community gathering space,” Oudendag told StratCann late last year.

Like the pop-up event Cannabis Cottage held last fall, Trugreen held several pop-ups in 2023 as a test run for their project, which they say they have been working hand-in-hand with the province to develop. 

Arneja says they also plan on launching a grand opening for the first stage of their outdoor consumption space in Cumberland on April 20, as well.

His vision extends beyond the mere creation of a cannabis consumption area, instead seeking to nurture “a stigma-free space where the community can gather and celebrate the cannabis culture with a responsible blend of cannabis use and community building.”

“We’ve been operating these pop-ups to see what the space could look like, and to get feedback from the community on what they want it to look like,” he adds, highlighting the project’s community-driven nature.

Sam Jones, the owner of 2% Jazz Coffee, a cafe in Victoria, says that beginning in April his store will be hosting monthly cannabis-themed events, as well. 

“It’s a very casual affair,” explains Jones. “There’s no smoking indoors at all. No buying, nothing like that. It’s just an open cafe where people can go out on the patio and smoke a joint. Then you can come back in and enjoy a coffee and some good conversation. 

Instead, he works with local cannabis companies who help host the event, which can serve as a learning session for those interested. The coffee shop will also be hosting a cannabis seed exchange on the last Friday in March.

“We just want to provide a space where the idea of having a joint can be normalized.”

-Note: This article was edited to include information on the 2% Jazz Coffee.

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Following a nearly three-year wait, Burb Cannabis was finally able to open its new location near the University of British Columbia on Friday, February 23.

The new store, at 5784 University Blvd., is located just outside campus boundaries but represents the closest cannabis store to the University. 

The application for the location had received pushback from some in the community who argued such a store didn’t fit the neighbourhood and would put students at risk. However, a Metro Vancouver committee voted to approve the application earlier this month, sending it to the MVRD Board for the final decision.

BC Premier David Eby, when he was still the BC Attorney General, was among those who spoke out against the location at the time.

However, the UBC student union was supportive, with Alma Mater Society president Eshana Bhangu noting that there are multiple liquor stores close to campus that face no such community concerns. 

A small handful of local media organizations attended the grand opening, with the Vancouver Sun reporting that John Kaye, co-founder and CEO of Burb, welcomed a gathered crowd, saying, “Let’s cut the ribbon, let’s get high.” 

This is the final store Burb can currently open in BC. The province has a cap of eight stores per owner, although it is currently considering raising that to some degree. 

Kaye tells StratCann he’s supportive of raising the cap, especially since the BC government’s own BC Cannabis Stores are not capped in the same way. 

“We’re very supportive of raising the current eight store cap in BC, and feel the new cap should be 16. There are 36 BC Cannabis Stores. How is that fair?” 

The new store will operate Monday through Saturday from 9am to 11pm, and Sunday from 10am to 10pm.

“Our focus is on offering the best menu possible, with exclusive products you’ll only find at Burb, such the Jellee hand-rolled hash-holes, Book Club Exclusives, and limited run merchandise and accessories,” stated Peter Pittson, general manager at Burb UBC and Co-Founder of Book Club, a cannabis community and products company.

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It was an expensive Valentine’s Day for one cannabis store in Kelowna when a judge ordered them to pay a $7,000 fine for an employee forgetting to check ID.

Kiaro Cannabis in Kelowna was subject to a targeted inspection in July 2023 in which an underage agent was sold a package of cannabis gummies. The employees on duty did not ask for the minor agent’s ID or their age. 

In rendering their decision, the general manager of the BC Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB) ruled that store management did not take proper actions to ensure staff were properly checking ID, leading to the decision to implement the penalty of a $7,000 fine. 

For a first offence of this type, which was the case here, BC has a range of penalties, such as a licence suspension for seven to eleven days and/or a monetary penalty of $7,000-$11,000.  

Kiaro operates four Cannabis retail stores in BC, including the Kelowna location, as well as Vancouver, Port Moody, and Victoria. 

BC’s Minors as Agents Program (MAP) utilizes young people under the age of 19 to test if cannabis and liquor stores in BC are checking IDs. The program works with two adult agents and one minor. One adult agent first enters the store to assess if it’s safe for the minor to enter. If deemed safe, the minor then enters the store and selects a product to buy. 

If the purchase is made successfully, the minor agent then returns to a car where the second adult agent awaits to collect the product. At the same time, the first adult agent communicates the action to the store employees on duty. 

In this case, the Branch alleged that the minor agent purchased a five-pack of Strawberry Mango SOURZ by Spinach for about $7. The store clerk, later identified as the manager on duty, sold the product to the minor. 

In their defence, representatives for Kiaro discussed the chain’s internal policies for staff training and practices for checking ID. In their ruling, the Branch determined that the store had provided evidence that it had an adequate training program and an effective ID policy for teaching all its employees when and how to request ID. However, it also ruled that there was little evidence about how the policies are being implemented in the Kelowna store where the infringement occurred. 

The store noted that the manager on duty who sold the cannabis to the minor was suspended without pay for five days and had a written warning added to their file.

Ultimately, BC determined that the store had not demonstrated due diligence in ensuring its policies were being properly taught and executed in its stores. The Branch also recommended that the licensee consider introducing a pop-up question on its point of sale system where an employee must answer yes or no to “have you asked for ID?” before being able to complete a sale.

The retailer may now apply for a reconsideration of this compliance order in accordance with BC law, within 30 days. 

BC is sometimes more lenient in its rulings. In a case heard in 2023, ​​it was found that a cannabis retailer was not responsible when an employee failed to check the ID of a customer. This was because the store demonstrated that it had an extensive training program in place. 

While the employee was fired for their oversight, the retailer, Eggs Canna, did not have to face a $7,000 monetary penalty or shut down for seven days.

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Two cannabis stores in BC have faced break-ins this week, causing significant damage to the stores and a loss of product. 

The most recent store to report a burglary was UEM Cannabis in Langley, which first posted about the incident on their social media. The post, shared on Tuesday, January 9, says that in the early morning hours of that day, two vehicles, a truck and a car, arrived with six individuals who broke into the store. 

The individuals reportedly did significant damage to the store itself to gain access, with the men quickly making off with products like vape pen batteries, cannabis beverages, and extracts.

UEM Cannabis is one of the busier cannabis stores in BC, selling a large volume of cannabis products from their location in the middle of BC’s Lower Mainland. UEM also has a location in Vancouver. An employee at the Langley store told StratCann on Wednesday, January 10, that they are still open for business. 

Seed and Stone’s Chilliwack location was the second store to face a similar burglary. Seed and Stone operates five stores in BC. 

Vikram Sachdeva, the Founder & CEO​ of Seed and Stone, confirms with StratCann that the burglary also occurred around 4:30 in the morning, similar to the previous burglary at UEM Cannabis. No employees were present at the store at the time. 

Sachdeva says, like UEM, his store faced considerable damage from the burglars gaining entry to the store and then gaining access to glass display cases. He says the store is currently closed but is expected to open again in the coming days. 

Retailers need to be very vigilant, he argues, as the industry has a “target on its back” with many assuming cannabis businesses are awash in cash. 

“We face so many issues,” says Sachdeva. “Banking is hard to come by. Margins are slim. And when we face something like this, it can be easy to get discouraged. But we just keep pushing forward. It’s what we have to do.”

He says the community has already shown him a lot of support, with customers stopping by the store offering encouragement and his landlord being very cooperative. 

“From a business point of view it puts another roadblock in front of us. But we are still here, still doing the work.”

Robberies and burglaries of cannabis stores are not uncommon in BC and other provinces. Two cannabis producers in BC were taregetted last year, as well.

Around a dozen stores have been the targets of sometimes violent robberies in the Calgary area in the last few months. Stores in Calgary have been previously targeted, as well. Several stores in Ontario were the victims of break-ins, and there were at least two incidents of arson in early 2023.

Featured image of Seed and Stone storefront in Chilliwack that was targeted by burglars.