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BC to launch a ‘Buy Legal’ ad campaign

Published on October 16, 2021 by David Wylie

Photo: David Wylie/the oz.

The B.C. government will launch a ‘Buy Legal’ ad campaign to encourage people to buy legal weed.

The ad campaign will emphasize that buying from licensed stores helps strengthen local economies and keeps profits out of the hands of illegal operators and organized crime. The province will also encourage people to buy regulated and tested products and link to a map of legal stores.

Oct. 17 marks the three-year anniversary of legalization. During that time, the province says the value of B.C.’s legal cannabis sector has more than quadrupled.

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“Legal B.C. cannabis businesses contribute to local economies and generate tax revenues that help pay for the schools, hospitals and services we all rely on,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General.

“As British Columbia passes the three-year anniversary of non-medical cannabis legalization, we are continuing to develop made-in-B.C. approaches to ensure we have a strong and diverse cannabis sector, while working to keep organized crime out of the industry,” says Farnworth.

B.C. now has the third-highest number of legal cannabis retail stores—375 licensed private retail stores, plus 30 public retail stores under the BC Cannabis Stores brand. There are another 57 applications from across the province for private stores that are approved in principle.

The province has the second-highest number of federal production licence holders in the country, with a total of 192 federal licence holders, including 55 micro-producers and 13 nurseries (as of Oct. 8).

As well, B.C. is developing programs for direct delivery and farm-gate sales, which will launch in 2022. These programs will help smaller cannabis producers get products to market faster and build brand recognition.

Here’s a link to the full news release from the province.