Princeton pot shop fined $7,000 for selling to minor in sting operation
The body that keeps an eye on cannabis stores in BC caught a budtender in Princeton selling THC gummies to a 16-year-old in a sting operation.
The agent walked into Atheneum Cannabis in Princeton on a Sunday afternoon in February and after consulting with the budtender bought a two pack THC gummies, according to an Aug. 21, Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch decision.
The inspection team had been carrying out compliance inspections in both Princeton and Keremeos that day.
There was a cannabis branch inspector in Atheneum Cannabis who sent a text message to a second inspector outside to say it was safe for the 16-year-old agent to come inside and buy the cannabis product.
The employee didn’t ask the agent for identification and once they had left the store with the gummies, the budtender was informed by the inspector she had just sold to a minor, the decision said.
At a hearing held earlier this month, the licensee’s representative testified the budtender was a new employee working by herself on her second shift.
While the employee acknowledged she had been well trained, she admitted to a lapse in judgment by having made a big mistake in selling the product to the agent, a mistake she said she deeply regretted.
Selling cannabis to a minor comes with monetary penalties between $7,000 and $11,000 or a licence suspension.
In this case, the cannabis branch ordered the business pay a $7,000 fine. A sign will also be placed in a prominent location in the store advising customers about the penalty.
The employee who contravened the cannabis control act was fired.
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