The Manitoba government plans to stop alcohol and cannabis retailers from selling to minors by hiring young people for undercover operations.

Bill 60 was introduced in early November, but details were only released publicly on Thursday. It would allow minors hired by the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba to attempt to purchase regulated products. These sting operations would try to catch places where underage sales are happening. 

Justice Minister Cliff Cullen said the LGCA is limited in its enforcement activities, because it must have an inspector observe sales to a minor to identify a breach. 

"The only way to catch licensees who sell to minors or young people is to observe them doing so," Cullen said in a statement to CBC News. 

Delta 9 Cannabis has filed patents in Canada and the U.S. for decontamination equipment that could be used in the fight against COVID-19. 

Branded as ‘decontamination pods’, or ‘D-pods,’ the company has retrofitted shipping containers with heat and ultraviolet light technologies. Once medical equipment is placed inside the pod, the combination of light and heat kills the virus.

John Arbuthnot, the CEO of Delta 9, said the technology could be a “game changer” and allow hospitals and care-facilities to decontaminate large amounts of PPE and other equipment in two-hour cycles, freeing up inventories and potentially preventing exposure to the virus. 

(image: Delta 9 Cannabis Inc.)

A Canadian cannabis Company is rolling out a new take on its growing technology that may help the fight to contain the spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 350,000 Canadians and killed more than 11,000. Worldwide, those numbers have surged to 60.6 million cases and more than 1.4 million deaths.

Winnipeg-based Delta 9 Cannabis Inc.(TSX: DN, OTCQX: VRNDF, Forum) has developed and validated new proprietary decontamination equipment, called the “Decontamination Pod”, which can be used to decontaminate medical supplies, personal protective equipment (PPE), and other equipment.

Faced with multiple complaints from residents, Winnipeg city council's property and planning committee has voted to ask the public service to look at whether the municipality can regulate or ban growing cannabis at home.

Councillors on the committee heard from several residents at a Monday meeting who complained about the odour from homes set up to grow cannabis under medicinal licences issued by the federal government.

They also raised fears about the possible involvement of organized crime in such grow-ops.

People living in several north Winnipeg neighbourhoods say they have become prisoners in their own homes since their neighbours sold their houses to new owners who have turned them into medical marijuana grow operations.

"The smell is horrific," said Eddie Calisto-Tavares.

Calisto-Tavares owns her own business and, like many, is now working from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She and her husband started going for daily walks around the neighbourhood in March and began to notice a strong odour around certain homes, she said.

"We thought it was winter and probably the skunks are hibernating," she said.

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister is moving up his government's annual throne speech to next Wednesday and is promising to break through any more opposition stalling tactics that might arise.

"We're quite prepared to go to the wall to get our issues brought forward and action taken," Pallister said in an interview Thursday.

The throne speech is normally staged in mid-November to lay out the government's agenda for the coming year. And October is used to pass any legislation left over from the spring.

But this year has not been normal.

The Opposition New Democrats used procedural tactics for several days in the spring to delay the introduction of the budget and stall dozens of bills from being debated.

Would you like to be able to grab an edible from your favourite coffee shop? What about a massage with a CBD-topical from your local masseuse? If you live in Manitoba, the province’s Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority (LGCA) wants to hear from you.

Until the end of the month, the LGCA is holding public consultations to determine the “entrepreneurial and consumer demand” for cannabis licenses that would authorize businesses to offer on-site cannabis consumption.

The licenses would account for edibles and other ingestible cannabis products but vaping and smoking would remain prohibited. 

A provincial regulator is trying to gauge consumer and entrepreneurial interest in the licensing of new types of cannabis businesses, such as cafés that serve edibles and spas where topical cannabis products are applied.

"We are seeking the input of Manitobans to better understand their level of comfort with edible and ingestible cannabis products, licensed consumption spaces, and whether there is a desire for these types of businesses or services," said Kristianne Dechant, executive director and CEO of the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba (LGCA).

A Manitoba man is gearing up to take on the provincial government to make growing weed at home legal.