From: Blain Lawson, General Manager and CEO, BC Liquor Distribution Branch
To: Industry Associations
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017
Subject: SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: LDB appointed cannabis wholesale distributor by government
We encourage you to please share the following special announcement with your membership.
Valued Industry Partners,
As you may have heard, the government announced today that the LDB has been appointed the non-medical cannabis wholesaler for the province. The official press release can be read here: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2017PSSG0077-002017.
While the government is still considering its options related to the retail of cannabis, they have indicated they are planning to adopt a retail model that includes both public and private stores. At this point, it is not confirmed whether the retail model would involve liquor and cannabis sales from the same retail outlets, however we expect to have more details in the new year.
To ensure the LDB continues to fully support its core business of alcohol distribution, we will be creating a new and separate business operation to support the distribution of cannabis. The relocation of the Vancouver Distribution Centre to a new facility in Delta is still proceeding next year as planned.
We want to assure you our commitment to customer service and working collaboratively with our liquor industry partners remains the same. It is business-as-usual for LDB’s liquor operations.
Now that government has provided a clear mandate to the LDB to move forward with cannabis distribution, we are mobilizing quickly to prepare for the July 2018 legalization date.
While we are committed to keeping our industry partners up-to-date as this initiative progresses, there will be questions we do not have answers to at the moment – we thank you for your patience as we work through the details.
For more information, please visit: www.bcldb.com/cannabis or email: cannabis@bcldb.com.
Regards,
R. Blain Lawson
General Manager and CEO
BC Liquor Distribution Branch