Couche-Tard Wants Into the Cannabis Business
Thankyou to Andrew Sacks (SWD) for alerting us to this one
LAVAL, Quebec — One of the world’s largest convenience store operators in the world may be adding legalized marijuana to its locations in Canada.
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. has reportedly hired a lobbying firm in a move that signals an interest in selling cannabis at its convenience stores in Quebec, according to the Montreal Gazette.
A recent entry in Quebec’s registry of lobbyists is the PR firm Tact Intelligence-conseil, represented by Marie-Ève Bédard. According to the registry, Bédard’s presence is in the context of Bill C-45 — federal legislation to legalize marijuana for recreational use, the news outlet reported.
Bédard’s has been tapped, it added, to let the Quebec government know Couche-Tard is willing to be part of a sales model established for marijuana sales in the province. Couche-Tard hopes to obtain “a favorable orientation” on the part of the government toward a model that would include the convenience retailer in its distribution plan.
The company stressed it favors a model that would see sales to the public conducted in a responsible manner, the Montreal Gazette said.
The federal government is expected to legalize marijuana by July 2018. The proposed legislation calls for the individual provinces to set the sale and distribution.
As of Jan. 29, Laval-based Couche-Tard’s network consisted of 8,081 convenience stores throughout North America, including 6,710 stores with road transportation fuel dispensing. Its North American network comprises 15 business units, including 11 in the United States covering 41 states and four in Canada covering all 10 provinces.
In Europe, Couche-Tard operates a broad retail network across Scandinavia, Ireland, Poland, the Baltic states and Russia through 10 business units. As of Jan. 29, Couche-Tard’s network in Europe consisted of 2,766 stores, the majority of which offer road transportation fuel and convenience products, while the others are unmanned automated fuel sites that only offer road transportation fuel.
In addition, under licensing agreements, close to 1,700 stores are operated under the Circle K banner in 13 other countries and territories worldwide
Yukon
The Yukon government plans to have its own cannabis legislation in place when marijuana becomes legal across Canada in July 2018.
http://www.whitehorsestar.com/News/territory-is-pursuing-its-own-cannabis-legislation
The Yukon government plans to have its own cannabis legislation in place when marijuana becomes legal across Canada in July 2018.
The territorial law could pave the way for a retail weed market in the territory, though the justice minister said it’s too early to confirm whether the Yukon legislation will support brick-and-mortar dispensaries.
The purpose of the Yukon’s legislation will be “to keep Yukoners safe, to restrict access to cannabis to youth, and remove profits that are related to organized crime,” said minister Tracy-Anne McPhee.
Last Thursday, Brad Cathers, the justice critic for the Yukon Party, asked about the Yukon government’s plans for the distribution and sale of marijuana in the territory.
The federal Cannabis Act “will create real challenges for the provinces and territories that have to do the heavy lifting of dealing with licensing, distribution, retail sales and highway enforcement,” said Cathers.
Narcotics Control Board warns Canada about compliance
The annual report of the United Nations’ Narcotics Control Board (the “NCB”) provided a warning to Canada that it will not be compliant with its three major international drug treaty obligations if it pushes ahead with laws permitting the recreational use of cannabis. The report provides a global analysis and summary of drug production, consumption, and other drug-related issues for 2016. In its review of Canada, the report states:
Canada is party to all three international drug control treaties. The Government has initiated a process that has as its goal the legalization and regulation of access to cannabis for non-medical use. The Board notes that the legalization of the use of cannabis for non-medical purposes is inconsistent with the provisions of the 1961 and 1988 Conventions because the Conventions oblige States parties to limit the use of narcotic drugs exclusively to medical and scientific purposes. That limitation, expressed in article 4, paragraph (c), of the 1961 Convention, is binding on all parties; regulating the use of drugs outside medical and scientific purposes is not allowed under the Convention. The limitation of the use of drugs to medical and scientific purposes is a fundamental principle that lies at the heart of the international drug control framework, to which no exception is possible and which gives no room for flexibility. The Board urges the Government to pursue its stated objectives — namely the promotion of health, the protection of young people and the decriminalization of minor, non-violent offences — within the existing drug control system of the Conventions.
