Edmonton Slashes High Cannabis Business Licence Fees
Alberta City Recognizes Stigma, Reduced Access that High Cannabis Business Licence Fees Bring – LPC
Edmonton is slashing its high cannabis business licence fees by 90 per cent in 2022. Councillor Scott McKeen, who is also chair of the Edmonton Cannabis Coalition, flagged the hypocrisy of high cannabis business licence fees.
“If we’re going to have legal cannabis sales and consumption, one of the goals should be to reduce and eventually eliminate the (illegal) market,” McKeen told Postmedia. (Please see link to the full article below.) “If we have legal cannabis costing much more than (illegal) market cannabis, then we’ve got a problem.”
That problem is apparent in cities such as Mississauga, which recently upheld its ban on retail cannabis outlets within city limits. At the time, the city had an estimated 100-150 illegal cannabis outlets. Further, the Regina approach proves that disrupting the illegal cannabis market starts with encouraging legal cannabis stores.
In Edmonton, licence fees will drop from $2,500 to $255, and even less for renewal. Fees for processing plans will also drop to $540. Development permits were also slashed by about 80 per cent. For example, retail cannabis storefronts with up to 500 square metres of floor space will be cut from $5,600 to about $1,080.
Stephanie McCabe, Edmonton’s deputy city manager, recommended cutting the city’s high cannabis business licence fees in an official report to city council.
“Normalizing fees for cannabis retail stores demonstrates a continued commitment from the City of Edmonton in supporting local businesses,” McCabe wrote. “This industry no longer requires dedicated services and the application process for both development permits and business licensing is part of regular permitting and licensing services.”
“Normalizing Fees” Addresses Ongoing Stigma That High Cannabis Business Licence Fees Promote – LPC
Although McCabe likely used the word “normalizing” in the accounting sense, it can apply in the social sense, too. McKeen also recognized the ongoing stigma that high cannabis business licence fees promote.
“It’s pretty clear that we’d hamstrung the retail industry,” McKeen said. “I see that as a result of continuing skepticism, if not outright disdain, for the drug. The (illegal) market is killing the legal market because of pricing. Why are we undermining the legal market by charging these sky-high fees?”
Stigma against cannabis continues almost three years after legalization. It is visible everywhere: in cannabis marketing and packaging rules, in the cannabis tourism rules, and in the farm-to-table rules, to name just a few. Some make sense, such as restricting bright and copycat packaging on edibles that would attract children. But many simply reinforce cannabis stigma.
Change in the cannabis industry will be long and slow. The unsurprisingly tight rules and regulations around cannabis will likely remain for years to come – especially while cannabis is still illegal federally in the United States. But it’s encouraging to see actions that are steps in the right direction such as reducing high cannabis business fees.
Read the Original Edmonton Journal Article Here
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