BC Interior pot shop fined $1,000 for having a sale
Having a sale is a normal thing that stores do if they've got inventory to shift and bills to pay, but a BC weed store has fallen foul with the government for slashing prices.
Cost Cannabis in Revelstoke has been fined $1,000 for advertising that everything in the store was 50% off.
According to an Oct. 23 BC Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch decision, the weed store had ads that all products and accessories were half price in April.
The decision said the Liquor and Cannabis Branch began an investigation after it received a complaint.
A Cannabis Branch inspector entered the store and asked about four different cannabis products, which the staff member confirmed were all on sale.
The Liquor and Cannabis then requested records from the store which confirmed it was selling the products for less than the wholesale price it paid for them.
"(The store) ought to have known that offering a promotion for everything in the store at 50% off the original price would be a cause for concern," the Cannabis Branch said in the decision.
In BC cannabis stores are not allowed to sell cannabis for less than it paid to the government for the cannabis.
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"Control of cannabis prices is directed at the public safety issues of preventing over-service, over-consumption, and loss of control by the consuming public," the decision read. "In general, the price of cannabis must not be so low that it is likely to lead to over-consumption or resale for profit."
The decision also said a reason for price control is to prevent "destructive competition and its spillover effects."
In its defence of the 50% off sale, the store argued having a minimum price for cannabis does nothing to prevent over-consumption.
"The (store) says the historical illegal market in cannabis sales continues to be significant. These 'grey sale' cannabis products can and are being sold cheaper than the government-supplied cannabis products, and this disparity is pushing the industry to remain underground," the decision read. "The underground market is much more likely to be a source of over-service and over-consumption than sales by (licenced stores) for less than the minimum pricing."
Cost Cannabis went on to say this is concerning as non-licenced products may be tainted and are not as safe as government-supplied products.
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A recent poll found that only half of Canadians who have bought cannabis since legalization in 2018 have done so in a government-licenced store.
The Cannabis Branch requested a full sales inventory going back months and analyzed whether the store had sold products below wholesale pricing.
While the Cannabis Branch concluded the store had sold products below wholesale value, how much cannabis and for how much money, isn't given in the decision.
"However, the failure to comply with the minimum pricing requirements for the sale of cannabis products is a serious matter due to the potential harms to both the purchasers and the community from over-service and/or over-consumption and the potential for negative impacts on the competitiveness of the regulated market," the Cannabis Branch said.
Ultimately, the store was fined $1,000, the minimum for such an infraction.
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