Illegal online pot sales a test for government monopoly
Jason says he has been rolling up prime cannabis bud, ordered online for recreational use, for months.
Summoning strains with names such as Golden Goat delivered reliably to his Calgary door under the radar is something he won’t give up, despite the Alberta government’s plans to monopolize internet-ordered pot once legalization arrives Oct. 17.
To him, it’s about protecting his privacy as much as anything.
“I don’t see any reasons why the government needs to be a repository of my personal information, to know my personal habits,” said Jason, not his real name.
“I just don’t see people lining up to the government to fulfil their needs … I don’t know anyone who would.”
He noted that to purchase alcohol, there’s no requirement to provide the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) basic personal information that’s needed to qualify for online marijuana purchases on the agency’s website.
“If it’s legal, it’s legal. They don’t do that with booze,” Jason said.
Privacy concerns are only one challenge facing the AGLC as it gears up to begin handling the online sale of cannabis in the province, while curbside business will be the realm of private operators.
Many current online customers, who have easily circumvented often lenient or non-existent medical requirements, say they ’re happy with the current product quality, selection, price and access.
They can also purchase items that won’t be available through government suppliers for at least a year, such as edibles, hashish and even the wafer-like concentrate known as shatter.
And there’s no shortage of clickof-the-mouse suppliers who’ve massively populated the internet in recent years with a dizzying array of pungent choices.
Along with bountiful imagery of its harvested flowers, Canadianbased Cheapweed.ca offers discounts on bulk purchases: “45 per cent off when eight or more ounces are in your cart.”
Among online reviews of its products, it’s difficult to smoke out any medical references, though some are listed by the merchant in describing the benefits of various strains.
Online retailers operating in a legally grey area will pose “massive” competition for governments like Alberta’s, said Paul Rock, general manager for Vancouver web-based Budderweeds Cannabis Products.
“By the AGLC advertising, people are going to find out about all these other companies who’ll have better prices and a lot more variety,” Rock said.
He added that black marketeers’ prices could be half those of the AGLC.
While Canadian law dictates any current marijuana sales must be medicinally based, Rock noted his industry has operated largely by simply requesting age verification, and hasn’t been shut down by legal authorities.
It’s an approach taken by dozens of curbside dispensaries in the city of Vancouver, he said.
But Budderweeds will end its online business once Oct. 17 arrives, eyeing instead more clearly legal routes such as storefront sales, he said.
“We don’t want to be cowboys, we appreciate the legal olive branches governments are offering,” Rock said.
Many others, though, will remain and take their chances despite a likely looming crackdown by authorities, he said.
“It’s because they’re making so much money,” Rock said.
The AGLC will be competing with a host of online providers who are clearly operating illegally now and would be after Oct. 17, said agency spokeswoman Kaleigh Miller.
And she said a question is why there hasn’t already been a crackdown on them.
“It’s a law enforcement issue, why they haven’t been enforcing it to date, I don’t know,” she said. “I know the goal is to put pressure on that illicit market.”
But she said there’s an expectation marijuana consumers will eventually come around to the legal retail side, which promises safe, federally-licensed products and competitive prices.
“It’s going to take some time,” Miller said.
It’s been the duty of local police to ensure cannabis laws are followed and will continue to be, Alberta Justice spokeswoman Lisa Grover said in a statement.
As in the past and currently, law enforcement has the authority to shut down illegal dispensaries, she said.
“In general, it is the local police where the dispensary operates who would enforce the law.”
Budderweeds’ Rock notes most of those online suppliers are based outside Alberta, which has been a prime market for his outlet.
“After Ontario, Alberta’s No. 2. Albertans really like to buy online,” he said.