Competition could be heating up in Iqaluit’s cannabis retail sector.

The Government of Nunavut is seeking community input on an application by Higher Experience Inc. to open a store at 760 Queen Elizabeth Way.

If approved, it would be a second cannabis retailer for Iqaluit, in addition to Nuna Cannabis, located on Federal Road.

The proposal is to open a store where cannabis is sold to and accessible only by adults aged 19 and older.

Under Nunavut’s cannabis laws, the territorial government must consult the community when such an application is received.

Proposed by Higher Experience Inc., the store would be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily except Tuesdays and statutory holidays.

Project aims to help Inuit communities better understand cannabis use

A new Inuit-focused campaign is sharing information about cannabis use in an effort to educate users and reduce possible harms.  

Launched on Nov. 29, Let’s Talk about Ujarak: A Cannabis Harm Reduction Toolkit is part of a larger project funded by Health Canada that aims to help Inuit youth and families better understand the potential impacts of cannabis use. 

The campaign is spearheaded by Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, the national representative organization of Inuit women in the country.

In 2018, Canada made a historical decision by legalizing medicinal and recreational marijuana. It is also the first G7 nation to allow marijuana use. Even after two years, the demand for marijuana keeps on rising in Canada.

If you’re a cannabis connoisseur, read on to learn amazing facts about cannabis in Canada.

Cannabis Legalization in Canada

After prohibiting cannabis for almost 80 years, the Canadian government launched the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR) program in 2001. This policy allowed legal access to marijuana for Canadians who couldn’t find relief through regular medication.

The MMAR ultimately transformed into the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) in 2013, having a more liberal approach.

Cannabis retail stores are coming to Nunavut, the territorial government announced on Tuesday. 

They will begin accepting retail applications on June 1. 

The territory that nearly 40,000 people call home passed its Cannabis Act in June 2018, but only two companies — Canopy Growth and AgMedica Bioscience Inc — have been permitted to sell their products since then, with customers ordering online or over the phone.  

Approximately 4,000 times these past two weeks, I’ve thanked my lucky stars cannabis was legalized before the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe and sent us all cowering in our bong dens.

Business owners in Nunavut can now apply to open kiosks to sell cannabis from their stores — even when minors are in the building. 

To make cannabis retailing more accessible to Nunavut's business community, amendments to the territory's Cannabis Act are allowing businesses, like grocery stores and hotels, to sell cannabis products in places where minors also shop.  

Bills for those changes passed in the Legislative Assembly during the recent winter sitting. 

"The federal regulations are really strict around minors and we support that, but we wanted to give an opportunity for cannabis business to be successful in a small community," said Jo-Anne Falkiner, director of corporate finance with the territory's Department of Finance. 

Nunavut's Legislative Assembly will reconvene Tuesday in Iqaluit for nearly four weeks. During that time cabinet has plans to talk about cannabis regulation. 

Nunavut's Cannabis Act passed in June of 2018, before the federal government legalized cannabis that fall. But the act only allows for online sales of cannabis. 

This sitting, the government will introduce amendments to that legislation that would regulate the supply and sale of cannabis by in-store retailers. 

The Cannabis Act already allows the government to approve licences for retailers, and it did put out a request for "expressions of interest" from vendors and suppliers.   

Be careful what you wish for, especially when placing an order for weed online. Returning it can be a challenge, with policies varying from province to province.

Here’s what the shipping and return policies look like across the country.

British Columbia 

Bought a product that’s defective, shipped in error or recalled? The BC Cannabis Stores will take them back, but returns must be initiated within 15 days of the purchase.

A year after the legalization of recreational cannabis, Nunavut is still struggling to make a dent in its black market.

Territorial finance minister George Hickes told the legislative assembly this week that online sales are not doing the trick and a retail option is needed to compete with illegal sales. Cannabis users can only legally obtain the drug through Tweed and Vertical Cannabis.

October 17, 2019, marks the first anniversary of the legalization of cannabis federally in Canada, and the date when the second phase of products — edibles, extracts, topicals and some other alternative cannabis products also become legal. 

Each province and territory were handed the reins for rolling out legalization, and the results in terms of access to legal marijuana are very different for Canadians depending on where they live. This has also had an impact on consumption patterns.