“At first I thought he (the cashier) was joking"

A medical cannabis user in Ottawa was refused to buy beer at the Mcarthur Avenue Loblaws store after a cashier accused the client of smelling like cannabis.

Christie Southward, who uses cannabis to treat anxiety and chronic back pain, said she had not been consuming her medication when she tried to purchase the beer.

She initially thought the cashier must be pulling her leg.

“At first I thought he was joking and he was very serious,” Southward told CTV News.

“I was getting my groceries, and when it came to my alcohol, the cashier stopped and said he will not sell it to me because I smelled like pot.”

Southward says she hadn’t consumed cannabis at all that day, but thinks her jacket may have held on to some of the often-pungent odour of the drug, which could be what the cashier smelled.

“I was hurt, I was embarrassed. I shouldn’t have to talk with strangers about my medication. I was so angry I felt like crying,” she said.

After being refused, Southward requested to speak with a supervisor. She spoke with a store manager who refused to allow the purchase, deferring to the cashier’s assessment.

“Colleagues who handle and sell alcohol in our stores are Smart Serve trained and, as such, are prohibited from selling alcohol to intoxicated individuals or those showing signs of intoxication,” Loblaw wrote in a statement defending their employees. “We trust our colleagues to exercise discretion in the interest of public safety.”

Southward resents having to share medical information with grocery store staff because her prescribed medication still carries a social stigma — and worries that her experience is part of a larger trend.

“I had to explain to a manager that I am a chronic pain patient, I have a license to smoke. I’m sure if it happened to me it’s going to happen to other people,” Southward said.

Smart Serve rules (and the law) dictate that “no person shall sell or supply liquor or permit liquor to be sold or supplied to any person who is or appears to be intoxicated.” But there are no measures that specify the smell of cannabis, or any other legal drug, as a valid reason to refuse a sale.

Smart Serve cites “signs of intoxication” such as “inappropriate speech volume, shallow breathing, glazed look in eyes, and difficulty seeing or hearing.”

Unfortunately, these can also be symptoms indicative of a physical or psychiatric disability, such as hearing impairment, asthma or emphysema, insomnia, or vision impairment.

Want to keep up to date on what’s happening in the world of cannabis? Subscribe to the Cannabis Post newsletter for weekly insights into the industry, what insiders will be talking about and content from across the Postmedia Network.