Uber to Start Delivering Cannabis in Toronto
22:51 GMT 17.10.2022 (Updated: 22:55 GMT 17.10.2022)
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Canada became the first G7 nation in the world to legalize cannabis in 2019, leaving each province and territory to their own regulatory systems. In Ontario, it is now legal to smoke cannabis anywhere that it’s legal to smoke cigarettes. This is the first time that marijuana delivery is available on third-party food-ordering platforms.
Starting on Monday, Toronto residents of legal age can purchase weed from the Uber Eats app, according to statements made by both Uber and the online marijuana retailer Leafly, with whom the food delivery service partnered to connect customers with local dispensaries.
“We are partnering with industry leaders like Leafly to help retailers offer safe, convenient options for people in Toronto to purchase legal cannabis for delivery to their homes, which will help combat the illegal market and help reduce impaired driving,” Uber Eats Canada General Manager Lola Kassim said in a statement.
When users order marijuana through retailers of their choice from the Uber Eats app, they will be vetted by staff from CannSell, an Ontario-based program that identifies itself on its website as the “definitive cannabis retail education program in the Province of Ontario.” Once vetted, the CannSell staff fulfills the orders, which are delivered by local retailers.
“Over the last few years, we have invested heavily in our delivery business and selection has expanded tremendously,” said Kassim. “Uber Eats has grown quickly to become a versatile platform usable by diverse businesses large and small.”
Both Uber Eats and Leafly have said in statements that their partnership is aimed at limiting impaired driving and combating the underground marijuana market, which has remained strong despite the drug’s legalization.
“Leafly has been empowering the cannabis marketplace in Canada for more than four years and we support more than 200 cannabis retailers in the [Greater Toronto Area],” Yoko Miyashita, Leafly’s CEO, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to work with Uber Eats to help licensed retailers bring safe, legal cannabis to people across the city.”
The companies are hoping that the convenience of at-home delivery will sway Canadian citizens away from illegal markets, which have flourished despite legal avenues. In Ontario, which is responsible for 40% of Canada’s legal market, legal trade only outpaced underground sellers in the second quarter of 2021, and the latest reports show that only 57% of cannabis users patronize legal distributors.
Uber currently has no plans to expand the service to other provinces or to the United States, citing that the legality of cannabis varies too heavily in Canada’s southern neighbor.
