NSLC busy making plans for marijuana sales next July

Just hours before residents heard the news Thursday morning, the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation itself learned that it will be responsible for running the recreational marijuana trade starting next year.

Although the Crown corporation has been preparing for that possibility, the NSLC now has less than seven months to create a whole new business, almost from scratch.

Just 48 hours into the task, NSLC spokesperson Beverley Ware said there are plenty of unanswered questions.

"We're in planning mode at the moment," she said. "We need to determine how many stores will be carrying cannabis. We need to determine where they will be. We need to determine how it will be displayed, how it will be distributed across our network.

A spokesperson for the Justice Department said the government involved the NSLC in discussions about distribution models for months.

"We wanted to keep the organization involved to avoid any surprises once decisions were made and to ensure they could quickly act if they were selected to distribute and retail cannabis," said Sarah Gillis. "They were notified about the final decision as soon as possible."

Training employees

Ware said employees will receive training before products hit the shelves.

"Our employees, of course, need to have training in how to deal with this product, so we do have a lot of work to do before July of next year."

That training will include the ability to offer customers advice, the way NSLC employees currently do when it comes to wine suggestions.

"We need to make sure that the programs are up in place, that they can make informed recommendations to our customers," Ware said. "They need to know the products."

The corporation hasn't started negotiating with suppliers yet, nor does it know how many varieties will be available to customers.

Local suppliers

On Thursday, Justice Minister Mark Furey made it clear he would like to see liquor stores stock locally grown marijuana but said it was likely that demand would outstrip supply and the liquor corporation would be forced to buy out of province.

Asked about the possibility of stocking small-batch productions similar to popular microbrewery brands of beer and cider, Ware didn't rule out the possibility.

"Well we do support local, as you know," she said. "We have the local craft brewery market. We have the local spirits market, the local wine market — and they're extremely popular with Nova Scotians. They like and support their local products.

"So whether or not we'll have a Nova Scotia section for marijuana, as we do for alcohol, I mean, that's something that will have to be determined."

Hidden from children

The federal government's proposed Cannabis Act stipulates that marijuana cannot be displayed or promoted anywhere it can be seen by young people, which poses a challenge for liquor stores that allow those who are under 19 on site.

But the proposed bill also allows "a person who is authorized to sell cannabis or cannabis accessories to promote it at a point of sale (e.g. retail store), if the promotion is limited to price and availability."

"We're looking at options on how this would be displayed," said Ware. "Children cannot see the display so we need to look at details such as does this need to be a separate room or does this mean that it could be displayed like cigarettes where they're all hidden?"