A North Vancouver cannabis store has been fined $7,000 after a sting operation by the province’s regulator found staff selling drugs to a minor.
According to a written decision from the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch, the incident happened at North Shore Cannabis in July under the branch’s “minors as agents” program, which uses teenagers aged 16-18 to carry out inspections.
The branch sent a minor into the store to attempt to purchase a “Pineapple Pre-roll.” The clerk, who was a trainee on his second day of work, and an assistant manager told the girl they didn’t have any available but offered some other in-stock options.
“Of the three options offered, Minor Agent #142 chose the cannabis product Blkmkt Pre-Roll Peanut Butter Mac, 1x1g THC – 26.2 per cent … and the assistant manager went to retrieve the product from the back of the store,” the ruling states. “At no time either when Minor Agent #142 entered the store, when she approached the sales counter, when she discussed with the assistant manager and the trainee a selection of products available for purchase in the store, or prior to completing the sale to her of the cannabis product did either the assistant manager or the trainee ask Minor Agent #142 for her identification.”
Another inspector, who was also under cover, was posted in the store to observe the interaction.
“Inspector A testified that due to the deleterious effect that the consumption of cannabis had on minors, that the branch took very seriously the contravention alleged in the [Notice of Enforcement Action] as being a public safety issue and, for that reason, had pursued this enforcement action,” the ruling states.
Under the law, a $7,000-fine or seven-day suspension are the minimum penalties for a first offence.
But the store’s management argued they should have been entitled to the defence of due diligence – that is that they have policies in place to prevent contraventions from happening, which they actively implement.
The store’s manager testified that staff go through extensive training to ensure they are in compliance with B.C.’s cannabis legislation. They are expected to politely request two pieces of ID from anyone who looks like they may be under 30, and that failing to do so may resulting in being “written up or terminated on the spot,” the ruling acknowledges. Additionally, they have regular meetings and group chats about the importance of confirming ID.
Despite the “culture of compliance” they seek, the manager characterized the incident as a mistake by a new trainee, who was promptly fired.
In the decision, the regulator acknowledged the efforts North Shore Cannabis management put in to ensuring they do not sell to minors, however, “Good intentions are not sufficient.”
“The fact that the sale of the cannabis product to Minor Agent #142 occurred in the middle of the training of the trainee by the assistant manager begs the question of the effective implementation of the licensee’s professed policies,” the ruling states. “Surely if this is the culture in the store, the assistant manager by routine should have asked Minor Agent #142 for her identification, even if he risked the possibility that the trainee had already done so and that it had been produced prior to the completion of the sale.”
North Shore Cannabis had no previous contraventions within the last 12 months, the ruling notes.
In 2011, the province amended the law to permit the minors as agents program for liquor inspections. It was later expanded to include cannabis stores as well.
