Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries CEO John Stinson said he wants cannabis sales separate from liquor after visiting dispensaries and production facilities in Colorado.
Stinson said liquor and cannabis customers are different and housing the two substances in the same building wouldn’t be the best strategy.
“There may be some crossover, but liquor is woven into our social fabric in a very different way than I think recreational marijuana is at this point,” said Stinson. “I think it would be difficult to have it displayed next to a bottle of vodka, because everyone coming in to buy a bottle of vodka is going to leave the store smelling like marijuana, and perhaps they don’t want to smell like marijuana.”
Stinson believes that Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries should be involved in selling cannabis, when it’s legalized.
“We already sell a controlled substance,” he said. “There’s strong regulations about that. We have lots of experience.”
Stinton and other liquor organization representatives will be meeting in June to come up with lobbying points to convince provincial governments that they should be included in cannabis sales.