Weed to your door? Manitoba's cannabis regulator hazy on delivery rules

The owner of anew weed delivery business is convinced it will beoffering a legal service to Winnipeggerswhen it arrives, but theprovince's cannabis regulator is notso sure.

Save the Drive is a new mobile app that wants to do forcannabis what Skip the Dishes has done fordinnertime.

Customerswill use their phone to browseproduct from various dispensaries, place their order and make a payment. The "personal shopper,"as the app describes its delivery drivers, will go to the pot shop with your shopping list in hand, buy what you wantand deliver it to your door.

"We're not selling cannabis in any way," said Chanel Graham, the Edmonton-based entrepreneur behind the fledging delivery business set to launch in six Canadian cities. "What we're selling is a shopping service."

The Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba is hesitant to say the same.

Provincial regulations dictateonly one of its few chosen retailers can operate an online shop once marijuana can legally be soldon Oct. 17. Delta 9 Cannabis and National Access Cannabis previously told CBCNews they will have at least one store ready by that date.

Graham doesn't think her app is like an online store. Although her customers can browse stock, pick what they want to buy and pay for it through Save the Drive, Graham says the actual transaction occurs not with the cellphone app but at the dispensary.

"What you're doing is putting in an order for somebody to go do your shopping for you," said Graham, who was in Winnipeg last month to attend a cannabis expo.

Unlike Skip the Dishes, Graham's service is not in partnership with the retailers. She is not giving a share of her revenue to any pot shop, nor is she working with them to populate her app's listing of products to buy.

Instead, the personal shoppers will be responsible for updating the app with what dispensaries are offering, she said.

Graham expects to have 20 drivers on the roads of Winnipegby the date of legalization. A number of drivers have already signed up, she said in an interviewlast week.

Customers will pay as much as $7 per delivery for the convenience.

Where's the point of sale?

Whether the enterprise ispermissibleat all rests on what part is considered atransaction the money exchange through the app, or at the store.

"Honestly, Ithink it would take interpretation," saidKristianneDechant,manager of communications and research at the LGCA.

"We'll have clearer answersafter we see the extent of businesses that pop up, but because this is all so new a lot of these are really based on legal interpretation, and, as the authority, we don't make those decisions."

Dechantsaid the regulator is telling entrepreneursto check with a lawyer but they have little to rely on.

The suitable partof Manitoba's cannabis regulations thatapplyto online orders is a single sentence: "Alicensee may only acceptonlineremote orders that are submitted to a website operated by the licensee."

Manitoba's standards for third-party delivery services makes no mention of e-commerce platforms.

Dechantsaid the LGCAis not trying to police anybodyand will referconcerns that hold weight to the authorities.

Sean MacDonald, aprofessor at University of Manitoba's Asper School of Business, believesSave the Drivefollows the rule of law in this province, but says he can't be sure.

He likens the recreational cannabis market to a wild west, with too many unknowns.

"Ithink that it will require some clarification, if not by the governmentthen ultimately by the courts, if this really catches on."

Unanswered questions

He says it'sunfortunate the LGCA cannot answer if a business is legal or not.

"Theonly pass Iwould give them is they may not know themselves, but they should."

At least one other cannabis delivery business Marijuana Mobile is seeking to set up inthe Winnipeg market.

CBC's efforts to contact the startup, which was seeking drivers on an online job board last month in Winnipeg and Saskatoon, came up empty. In the ad, they offered drivers $12-15 an hour to deliver recreational and medical cannabis.

Anyone delivering cannabis, whether it is the retailer themselves or a third party, must checkcustomers' ID to ensure they are 19 or older, as per Manitoba law. The store will be held responsible if any contractordoes not follow this stipulation, Dechantsaid.