As Canada prepares for federal cannabis legalization later this year, provinces are starting to fine-tune their laws and policies. Now, Saskatchewan lawmakers have rolled out legal marijuana regulations. These rules are giving more concrete shape to what the legal weed industry will look like in the province.
Saskatchewan’s Marijuana Regulations
The province of Saskatchewan is now accepting applications for cannabis business licenses. Those who want to own and operate a weed shop in the province can apply through April 10.
The province is able to open the application process because lawmakers have now pinned down some key regulations. Here are some of the key rules they came up with.
Home Deliveries
Lawmakers in the province have decided to allow cannabis shops to offer home delivery services. In order to deliver weed directly to customers, a company must be a licensed marijuana retailer, an established courier company, or a delivery company that already has a special permit to deliver alcohol.
Additionally, delivery people are not allowed to have more than 30 grams with them at any given time. Finally, although the province will allow home deliveries, lawmakers chose to prohibit cannabis drive-thrus.
Tough Security Requirements
The province will require all weed shops to maintain high levels of security. This includes having a fully operational alarm system with detectors at every exit point in the building, digital cameras that can monitor the store 24 hours a day, and panic buttons at every point-of-sale.
On top of all that, shops must also have protocols in place to identify each person that enters and exits store premises. Finally, all entry points to the store must have hollow metal doors that use tamper-proof hinges.
Hours of Operation
In Saskatchewan, cannabis shops will be required to stay open for at least six hours a day, five days a week. More specifically, operating hours must fall between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m.
Business owners will be allowed to choose exactly when they want to be open. Further, individual municipalities will have the power to set additional regulations and restrictions on what time of day or night businesses will be allowed to operate.
No Chain Stores
Under the province’s new regulations, anybody who applies for a cannabis business license will not be allowed to receive more than one license in a given municipality. Beyond that, the province will not allow any one company to own interest in more than 50 percent of the cannabis shops in a single city or town.
Presumably, these restrictions are in place to avoid the creation of large chain stores or anything resembling a monopoly within the young legal weed industry.
Final Hit: Saskatchewan Lawmakers Have Rolled Out Legal Marijuana Regulations
Anyone who applies for a license in Saskatchewan must be prepared to meet these regulations. The province’s new rules will go into effect later this year when Canada legalizes weed at the federal level.
According to the Regina Leader-Post, applicants in Saskatchewan must pay a non-refundable submission fee of $1,000. Additionally, they must also pay a $2,000 application fee and a $3,000 annual permit fee. Applicants who don’t receive a license can be refunded $5,000.
The province plans to issue 51 permits for new cannabis businesses. The fee associated with those permits should bring in a little more than $300,000 for the province.
