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Q. Is weed basically being treated like tobacco in terms of packaging?

A. There’s a few minor differences between Bill S-5, which is the plain packaging for tobacco legislation, and what Health Canada has proposed. But for the most part it’s a plain packaging bill.

Q. Why do you have a problem with plain packaging for cannabis?

A. Branding and marketing allows for companies to communicate the effects of a product. And we want consumers to make the most informed decisions when they’re purchasing legal cannabis because there can be consequences if you are not making informed decisions. Imagine going into a LCBO in Ontario and not properly understanding the difference between Johnnie Walker scotch and spiced rum?

Q. How does this plain packaging encourage the black market?

A. When we standardize the branding and the physical packaging, it’s easy for criminals to basically create that on their own.

Q. Do you think Health Canada is being overly cautious?

A. I think Health Canada is still very much stuck in the prohibition mentality. I think they fail to realize the biggest reason for legalization is that marijuana should have never been illegal in the first place.

Q. Do we know what the limits are going to be on pot advertising?

A. (Companies) are not going to be allowed to depict persons. They’re not allowed to have testimonials or endorsements. There’s a stipulation that there can’t be a marketing campaign towards children, which is of course totally appropriate. But included in that is a stipulation that they can’t include animals in terms of branding or like mascots or things like that. It’s still unclear because it’s not very in-depth the way that it’s written. They’re not allowed to do things like even sponsorship.