HALIFAX—A group of hands reach into the centre of the frame, clinking wine and cocktail glasses cheerfully over a table full of food.

It’s an image on the homepage of the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation’s website, and it’s clearly promoting the consumption of the NSLC’s main retail product: alcohol.

Come October, when recreational cannabis sales are green-lit by the federal government, the NSLC will also offer hundreds of varieties of cannabis.

What it stocks on its shelves will change, but what it advertises for sale will not.

“You’re not allowed to do any advertising or any promotions (of cannabis), so we won’t be doing any of that,” said NSLC spokesperson Beverley Ware, referring to restrictions contained in Ottawa’s marijuana legislation.

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The federal cannabis bill prohibits the promotion of cannabis, cannabis accessories and “any service related to cannabis,” which is why the NSLC says it won’t market marijuana in the same way liquor is advertised.

That means no images or posters inside or outside stores, and no digital, print or radio ads that promote cannabis sales.

Another image on the NSLC website features bold white lettering that reads “The Big Beer Sale” on a yellow background. Dewey drops of water cover the image, like the condensation on a cold beer can.

The ad promotes $1.50 cans of beer, a limited-time special price.

For marijuana? “There will be no sales or (price) promotions, no,” Ware said, again citing the federal legislation. She added that NSLC cannabis shops won’t accept Air Miles cards for the same reason.

Kevin Landry, a cannabis lawyer based in Halifax, said most of the advertising rules are quite clearly defined, but there is some room for interpretation.

In theory, he said, the NSLC could probably offer discounts, since neither the federal nor provincial regulations explicitly prohibit them. But the NSLC is “probably going to play it safe, at least in the beginning,” he said.

“Hypothetically, you could try to do it. Whether or not it would be found to be in the spirit of the act is another question,” Landry said, adding that someone could argue a discount is a promotion.

The legislation lays out a few exceptions to the advertising ban. For instance, people selling pot, its accessories or related services can share factual information, so long as it’s out of the sight of youth.

While the liquor corporation shies away from anything that could be perceived as commercial advertising, it does plan to make use of the exception for information sharing.

The NSLC is launching two awareness campaigns, Ware said.

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One campaign encourages buyers to start with strains that have a low percentage of THC (the active chemical in cannabis), not to mix with alcohol, store cannabis securely and out of reach of minors, and make safe travel plans that don’t involve driving high.

It’s directly in line with the provincial Cannabis Control Act, which says sellers must promote responsible consumption. With the monopoly on recreational cannabis sales in the province, that directive falls squarely on the NSLC.

The other campaign will prepare buyers for the actual shopping experience.

“It includes key information that customers need to know, such as the fact that they must be 19 years of age, children are not allowed in the cannabis area of the store, that customers will have to provide a valid photo ID, and to tell our customers that because cannabis purchases take time, there may well be lineups in these early days,” Ware said.

Landry said he thinks it’s wise to stick to informational advertising for now.

“I think there is value in restricting the advertising, at least at first, until we know more, because I don’t want to see another situation where we’re promoting products that could be harmful,” he said, referring to a time when cigarette ads were permitted, and how they contributed to the massive popularity of what we now know is a dangerous vice.

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Although the Nova Scotia government chose to pair cannabis and liquor sales under the NSLC, the tight advertising regulations for marijuana more closely resemble those for tobacco than alcohol. That was the goal of the federal government’s task force on cannabis legalization when it released its final report in 2016.

Last year, the chair of the task force, Anne McLellan, said the group took more from the tobacco regulations than from those for alcohol, in part because alcohol marketing in Canada has generally been too lax.

Landry agreed, noting how widespread commercial advertising is for alcohol, despite having well-founded scientific evidence on some of its negative health effects.

Still, he said, cannabis is neither alcohol nor tobacco.

Policy-makers often turn to similar, existing legislation to help in the creation of new rules, but imitating old regimes doesn’t always provide the best fit, Landry said.

If legalization leads to more cannabis research, as Landry hopes it will, he said the results of that research could help shape the way the rules are made and interpreted in the future.

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