This LaSalle cannabis shop is giving away a PlayStation. A neighbour says that's targeting kids

A local resident says a sign promoting a PlayStation 5 giveaway at a LaSalle cannabis shop crosses the line, but the business says its promotion doesn't violate rules against advertising to minors.

The sign outside the LaSalle Greentown Cannabis store says "Turn here" and "Win a Playstation 5."

Travis Lacey, a foster parent who is also a youth pastor, says he has filed a complaint with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) about the sign.

"When I drove by this sign, which is right next to my house, right off the bat these establishments are not allowed to advertise in any way that may be appealing to a young person," said Lacey. 

"Not only are they prohibited from advertising in any way that might be appealing to a young person, but they're also prohibited from inducing anyone or incentivizing anyone to buy cannabis."

But the business owner says the contest is within the rules and gaming consoles are used by many of legal cannabis age.

"I am 32, I have a PlayStation 4 and an Xbox. I am a gamer," said Palash Tiwari, vice-president of the Katzman Group, which owns Greentown Cannabis. "We have employees who are 48, 45, 46. They're gamers."

The contest is part of a series of giveaways by Greentown Cannabis and The We Store — for which Tiwari is the co-CEO — that will wrap up on April 20. Other We Store and Greentown locations are giving away large televisions. 

"Our team in LaSalle thought, 'You know what, let's do something different,'" Tiwari said "We thought about a couple ideas:  [electric]  scooters, bikes. I mean, you can say [that it advertises to children] about scooters, you can say that about TVs."

He said no one under the age of 19 can enter the building and young people get ID'd at the door.

Representatives from the AGCO did not return a request for comment Friday, and online regulations simply state advertising must not "appeal to or target persons under 19 years of age."

Another AGCO rule prohibits retailers from  "provid[ing] any other thing or benefit, as an inducement for the purchase of cannabis or a cannabis accessory."

Tiwari said Greentown and The We Store have run similar giveaways in the past for electric scooters and portable coolers filled with non-cannabis products, and the giveaways are a way to differentiate their stores from competitors. In anoother giveaway, as with this one, he said they checked the contest with the ACGO to ensure they didn't run afoul of the rules. 

Tiwari said entering the contest does not require a purchase  — entrants must simply enter the store, and to do even that they must be 19. 

"We cannot attach anything to sales," he said.

Lacey said he feels it's better to be cautious. 

"I would say that it is his responsibility to err on the side of not marketing in a way that could in any potential, in any reasonable manner be appealing to somebody who's [under age]," he said. 

"It's not just the PlayStation 5 they could win. It's the guy standing out in the front in bright clothes, dancing around, you know, all these things that go together that is just indicating to youth that this is a fun thing, which is exactly what the Cannabis Act was designed to prevent."