Cannabis retailers in Ontario will be required to attend preparatory classes to learn how to recognize stoned buyers. The learning program will also include topics such as Canadian cannabis history, federal and provincial legislation, compliance requirements, and the harms that come with marijuana use.
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has chosen CannSell as the sole legal training program for all cannabis retailers who are required to start selling on April 1. CannSell, a product of Lift & Co. Corp. must be fulfilled by workers and managers of retail cannabis shops before they start selling. Lift & Co. Corp. has another training program for workers in the alcohol industry. According to the vice president of strategy at Lift & Co. Nick Pateras, the program is made to teach employees about cannabis.
Pateras said due to 95 years of prohibition; there is a lot of misconception surrounding cannabis. There exist a lot of misinformation surrounding the potential benefits of marijuana, therefore, it’s necessary to teach workers about the risks of cannabis consumption.
According to Jean Major, Registrar, and CEO of the AGCO, the retail training program makes more retailers to work hand in hand with the law.
Major said the main aim of the program is to teach retail cannabis workers how to properly sell cannabis, and also inform them about their legal and regulatory obligations.
One of the teaching point’s states that retailers are not required to sell cannabis to stoned customers. According to the CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada, which helped Lift & Co. develop CannSell, the training will reduce the rate of impaired drivers.
The CEO of MADD Canada, Andrew Murie also said that due to their broad knowledge in education and awareness based on the prevention of impaired driving, MADD Canada is happily teaming up with Lift & Co to create and offer theoretical training which involves dominant emphasis on the dangers of driving impaired, and how to stop it.
According to Murie, the training will help employees to know if a customer has consumed too much cannabis.
She also said that people who are intoxicated with cannabis always panic when using their credit cards. Also, people who are intoxicated still take time to answer a question.
Murie said the program would teach workers about the different signs of impairment before denying a sale.
According to Murie, customers with the scent of cannabis should be served if the retailer realizes that there have not overdosed on marijuana.
When the four-hour training program is complete, workers will be asked to write a final exam in which they are required to pass with a score of 80 percent or higher. If the employee fails the examination two times, then he/she must repay the CA$ 49.99-course fee to retake the test. According to Matei Olaru, the CEO of Lift & Co., the program requires a lot of learning.
Olaru said that the test would be tough because it deals with cannabis and consciousness.
