First licence approval issued

One of the cannabis strains Chris Felgate’s store will offer Oct. 17 is dubbed Blue Dream.

For the co-owner of Alberta’s first fully approved marijuana shop, it’s a fitting way to spark up a long-held ambition.

“It’s exciting but, in some ways, it doesn’t feel real, like when you book a vacation and it’s not real until you’re on it,” said Felgate, who will operate Small Town Buds Cannabis Culture shop in Devon, a town of about 7,000 just southwest of Edmonton.

Recreational cannabis legalization, he said, “is not going to just be one of the best things to happen to Canada, but the world.”

Small Town Buds received its Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) licence about 2½ weeks ago, the first of 795 store applications submitted in the province to make it to the approval finish line, after jumping through numerous municipal and provincial regulatory hoops.

“We’ve already put in our order for cannabis, though it’s very limited — we don’t have access to everything we will have access to,” said Felgate, 29, who counts plumbing as his other trade.

Those offerings will consist of dried marijuana, pre-rolled joints, seeds and oils that can be consumed orally.

Before the end of this week, the AGLC will make a wider announcement of Oct. 17 store openings across the province, which will also include at least one location in Medicine Hat.

Felgate said AGLC officials told him fewer than 20 shops are expected to open on the first day of legalization.

There’s no word if any of those will be in Calgary, where final provincial licensing has been held back by a permitting process and nearly 100 appeals, some of those challenging civic approval, said AGLC spokeswoman Kaleigh Miller.

“Some municipalities aren’t even entertaining having bylaws until Oct. 17, so there’s no way a lot of them will be open by then,” she said.

“Some of these companies have hundreds of employees and it takes months to do background checks.”

Even so, Alberta is among the leaders in the country in its preparedness for Oct. 17, said Miller.

Ontario won’t have retail shops open until at least April, while B.C. will have only one store ready to legally sell weed on the legalization date, she noted.

“We’ve heard many, many times across the country Alberta is leading the pack, whether it’s in online sales strategy or things like age verification,” said Miller, noting the AGLC will operate legal internet sale of cannabis in Alberta, starting immediately Oct. 17.

Prospective retailer New Leaf, which hopes to eventually have 25 locations in Alberta, has Calgary locations that have long had shop marquees in place.

But none have yet received final AGLC approval, said the chain’s chief administration officer, Angus Taylor.

“It’s impossible to say if we’ll have any up and running on the 17th but we’re hopeful the AGLC can complete its process,” said Taylor.

“You have to be prepared for the bumps in the road ... there’s never been a new business rollout like this before.”

Some of the smaller operators, he said, could have difficulty surviving months of delays from appeals that have bogged down regulators.

Another challenge will be a defiant black market that offers good and varied product at a low price, said Felgate.

“The black market will be our biggest competitor,” he said.

But once licensed sellers are allowed to market more concentrated cannabis forms, combined with the convenience of legal purchase, “we’ll crush the black market,” added Felgate.

A typical price for marijuana at the outset at his store, said Felgate, will be $9.50 a gram or $30 for oneeighth of an ounce.

Solid cannabis edibles aren’t expected to be legalized until at least next summer.

You have to be prepared for the bumps in the road ... there’s never been a new business rollout like this before.