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'Ease into the pool, don't do a cannonball': Opening day at B.C.’s first legal cannabis store

Kamloops store opening brought people from all over
The lineup outside the store around 10:30 a.m. Oct. 17. Photo Eric Thompson
The lineup outside the store around 10:30 a.m. Oct. 17. Photo Eric Thompson

Cannabis was legalized across Canada Wednesday (Oct. 17) and shortly after, some folks came to Kamloops to check out the province's only legal pot shop

Most of the eager customers who lined up around 6 a.m. actually worked in the cannabis industry. For those civilians on the outside who were still interested in getting a taste, they opted to roll in at the less extreme hours of 8 a.m. and beyond. 

There was Matthew B., from Surrey, who drove up Tuesday and stayed overnight. He saw the opening as a historic moment he had to be a part of.

"There's only one first day you can buy it, so I just had to come and experience it. In Surrey, you can go to Vancouver and go to dispensaries, but this is something different altogether. There's no way I could not come, is the way I looked at it."

As someone who works from home, he was able to take the day off pretty easily. This won't be a regular road trip though, despite a hefty delivery fee for online purchases.

"I'll probably use the website next time. I was impressed with the selection they had. I thought it was going to be just flowers but it looked like they had tinctures and drops, sprays and capsules and stuff. That's encouraging."

Not everyone's visit to the store was as well planned out. One local made the trek all the way from downtown Kamloops, more out of necessity than hype.

"I'm an early riser. I'm a 'wake and baker,' but I didn't have my herbage, so I thought 'I'm up this early, I may as well wait in the line,'" says Gabe Salvatore. 

He's been mostly getting his product from downtown dispensaries and says he'll continue to in the future, as it sounds like more private ones will be approved soon. But today, the government store seemed worth checking out.

"I'm glad to have a place that's clean, regular hours and I can use the plastic instead of cash. In the big picture, I don't need much more," he says.

The price of cannabis was a hot issue, with a few in the lineup voicing their displeasure over the government's "monopoly" and many more reacting online.

But not everyone left the store screaming robbery.

"I got a few grams for 17-something, so that's better than most of the other dispensaries and cheaper than ordering online. I think its good value," said local Liam Bass, one of the first few dozen people to purchase something from the shop.

Upon entering, the store asks everyone who enters for two pieces of identification, in order to prevent the sale of weed to those under 19. The windows are also frosted up to five feet so kids can't see inside. 

Merritt's Kara Hopkins drove up with her friend Tina Coulter. Both are mothers, who are glad that cannabis won't be easy for kids to get, but are also glad that those days of teaching the dangers of marijuana are over.

"My kids know I use it for medicinal reasons — I treat my anxiety with it. It helps me sleep," says Hopkins. "I don't do it in front of them and I tell that I don't want them to use it until they're older, obviously, but we've never hidden it because I don't think it's a bad thing. I think it helps a lot of people in a lot of ways, so we don't focus on the negatives of it."

"My oldest, I've never hidden it from him and he has no interest in it, he's 21 now. He could care less," says Coulter. "He's probably gonna be like, 'Damn my mom's on the news.'"

For those who are looking to give cannabis a try, the store is pretty intuitive, with tons of information available and consultants on hand to answer any questions. And according to some, the fact that it's now a government-run business makes the product that much more trustworthy.

"That's what I like about it going legit, is that if it says one-to-one, you know its one-to-one," says Matthew B. "You're not going to go to the liquor store and it says five per cent and it's really 30. For a lot of people, especially first-timers, too much too soon isn't good. Ease into the pool man, don't do a cannonball."

No one in line would argue that legalization was the smoothest roll out. But for the most part, everyone was in too good a mood to worry.

Perhaps it was just something in the air?

Click here for original story.