EDMONTON—Getting weed delivered to your home with the push of a button sounds too good to be true — and it is.

Heather Holmen, spokesperson for the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC), said several entrepreneurs have approached the commission with proposals for apps that operate like Skip the Dishes, but for cannabis.

Alberta’s rules clearly state, however, that orders can only be made online through the AGLC when the drug is legalized Oct. 17 and the product will have to be sent through the mail. Private retailers will not be allowed to sell products online or make arrangements to have a delivery service go from a private brick-and-mortar store to a home.

Holmen said having everything go through the AGLC will help keep cannabis out of the hands of youth.

“Some of the interested businesses that want to get into delivery service have indicated they would ensure that there is the age-verification process, but it’s very much outlined that AGLC is the only one that’s permitted to,” Holmen said.

“We’ve got the systems in place that, upon delivery, it has to go to the intended purchaser. It can’t be left in a mailbox, it can’t be left with someone on the individual’s behalf, and if it does have to go to a Canada Post office it’s the same thing.”

Yet that hasn’t stopped people from trying to create cannabis delivery apps.

Chanel Graham plans to launch an app called Save the Drive out of Edmonton and hopes to work with AGLC despite the rules.

She got the idea when she was working as a home-care nurse in Vancouver and one of her clients was unable to make it to a dispensary for cannabis.

The app, which is functional but would not start operating until legalization, would serve patients as well as those consuming recreationally.

“There’s a few different scenarios. Maybe you’re having a party, you’ve already maybe smoked and you can’t drive, but you need more cannabis product. They can’t wait for a mail service,” Graham said.

“Somebody who’s a cancer patient who’s feeling unwell, nauseous, they’ll be able to order on demand. Somebody who has anxiety, maybe it’s very overwhelming to go into a dispensary, they can rely on a service like this.”

Save the Drive has plans to operate in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto starting Oct. 17.

Graham said the business currently has three full-time and six part-time employees and would employ roughly 200 drivers who would be paid in delivery fees plus tip, much like Skip the Dishes. Customers would pay through the app with their credit card or at the door with cash.

Graham said she does not plan to break any laws but is still hopeful she can find a way for Save the Drive to operate in Alberta.

“Our service is no different than Dial a Bottle, or calling your friend and saying, ‘Hey, can you pick me up a 2-6 from the liquor store? I’ll give you 50 bucks when you get here.’ There’s a lot of services out there with alcohol, so I feel like it’s going to be something that we’re going to be able to work with AGLC on.”

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Holmen suggested anyone looking to change the rules can raise concerns with the AGLC or government legislators, but for now there’s no getting around the law. Anyone who chooses to operate a weed delivery app would be committing an offence.

“I think those things are broad enough it could be a fine, a warning; it could lead to criminal charges. Because it’s been defined in legislation and policies that it’s not permissible,” Holmen said.

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