A man sporting a jacket and hat bearing images of marijuana gestures during the 4-20 annual marijuana celebration, in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday April 20, 2018. An amendment to the Cannabis Act/Bill C-45 recently passed by the Senate that would prohibit the use of cannabis brand elements on promotional items that are not cannabis or cannabis accessories. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A proposed ban on the use of cannabis brand elements on T-shirts and other swag would make it more difficult to stamp out the black market after legalization and have "significant" unintended consequences, licensed producers said Monday.
On June 1, the Senate adopted an amendment to Bill C-45, which is still being finalized, that would prohibit the use of cannabis brand elements on promotional items that are not marijuana or marijuana accessories.
The bill and several amendments will come to a final vote in the Senate on Thursday before going back to the House of Commons for approval.
The amendment is "unwarranted" and could have unintended consequences beyond swag, such as barring the use of company logos on retail signage and promotional flyers, said Allan Rewak, executive director of the industry association Cannabis Council of Canada, which represents 80 per cent of licensed producers.
"It's a messy amendment that will have significant implications far beyond than the idea of t-shrits and hats," he said. And the approporate place for such restriction, if they're warranted, would be in regulation."
Licensed producer Tantalus Labs' managing director Dan Sutton adds that non-cannabis accessories, such as caps with the producer's branding are a useful tool in differentiating their products from the illicit marijuana already being purchased.
"Black market cannabis is likely to continue to be prevalent... we need all the weapons we can get," he said.
Bill C-45 in its current form already prohibits advertising of cannabis products in traditional radio or television ads. As well, Health Canada unveiled its guidelines for cannabis packaging in March, which requires packages to be a single, uniform colour without images or graphics other than the logo and a health warning. However, the bill does allow companies to distribute promotional products with their brand logo.
Senator Judith Seidman, who put forth the amendment, said we are already seeing a "proliferation" of products such as T-shirts and backpacks with marijuana company logos, which undoubtedly appeal to kids and youth.
Virtually all cannabis promotion has been prohibited except for these items, and this amendment "would close this loophole and reduce the possibility that cannabis companies will market to our kids by stealth," said Seidman in a statement.
But in order to migrate consumers away from the black market over to the regulated market after pot for recreational use is legalized later this year, licensed producers need to do a certain amount of reasonable, restricted branding, argues Cam Battley, chief corporate officer for Aurora Cannabis.
People can easily purchase T-shirts and other swag with alcohol branding now, he notes.
"Nobody in the legal cannabis sector wants cannabis to be used by underage youth any more than we want youth using alcohol or psychoactive prescription drugs," Battley said. "The same cannot always be said for operators in the black market."
A ban on branded promotional items or "brand stretching" in conjunction with hefty restrictions on packaging and advertising deals a "significant blow" said Patricia McQuillan, president and founder of Brand Matters agency in Toronto. The primary tool for branding is packaging, and after that it would be any promotional items or swag, she noted.
"From a pure branding perspective, what's left?... You can't put it on the product, now you can't put it on something non-product related... then how will you effectively brand at all?"
