This Video Takes You Inside The First Recreational Marijuana Store In Canada
The October 17th legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada is fast approaching. Canadians wait with great anticipation for the moment when Canada becomes the first major country to allow the drug. October 17th will likely be a day of tremendous celebration and become an unofficial national holiday much like 4/20.
ALSO READ: 12 Things All Canadians Need To Do Before Crossing The U.S. Border
Provinces and municipalities, however, are scrambling to build infrastructure and enforce regulations before the October deadline. In Québec, for example, the new Sociéte québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) is struggling to find retail locations across the province that conform to some odd new provincial laws.
But one province has far out-paced the others when it comes to preparedness for recreational marijuana.
Officials in Nova Scotia have just given a tour of their first recreational marijuana dispensary. While this is just a single store in a single province, the dispensary offers a glimpse of the blueprint for retailers across the country.
Nova Scotia is admittedly a special case. Unlike the government in Québec, Nova Scotia officials have decided to permit dual alcohol and cannabis stores. So stores in the maritime province will look a little different from those in the rest of the country.
But the store still has to comply with federal rules and some other standard regulations. Those laws will produce some pretty unique architecture for Canadian recreational marijuana retailers. Rules about security and storage pose a design challenge to architects.
Some notable features of the new store include:
– visual barriers at the entrance so that minors and other non-customers cannot even see inside
– a narrow entrance and exit so that security can clear customers
– a user-friendly organization of product into four categories: "relax," "unwind," "centre," and "enhance."
– tablet interfaces for customers
– a secure, long, single-file line winding through the store
The video below of the store in Nova Scotia comes from The Canadian Press. This is the very first look at the retailers that will quickly sprout up across the country.
