Cannabis producers with a federal licence in British Columbia will now be able to promote their products by offering samples to retailers for a ‘nominal fee’.
Earlier this week (September 25), the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch announced that it was changing the laws around sampling and promotion ‘in response to industry feedback’.
Cannabis Retail Store (CRS) licensees and Producer Retail Store (PRS) licensees will now be able to accept samples from a federal licence holder.
Despite this, they will not be allowed to supply these samples to other cannabis licencees, providing samples to patrons remains prohibited, and cannabis consumption in store remains banned.
There is no maximum size for the samples, but they are expected to be ‘of reasonable size and quantity and should have little retail value.’
The regulatory body said that this was ‘a first step in helping federal licence holders to promote cannabis with samples while meeting legislative requirements’, and that it continues ‘to explore future regulatory solutions’.
These future solutions will seek to allow cannabis stores to provide samples to other licensees.
Similar rules have been implemented in Alberta, where producers are allowed to offer up to 3.5g as a sample, while producers in Ontario are able to provide samples to stores for education and training.
