Today we are going to talk about buying Cannabis from the Canadian government. During the switch from quasi legal to legal the government website https://www.bccannabisstores.com is becoming the only resource for many Canadians to fill their medical and recreational needs
In this article, we walk you through the experience of purchasing weed from the government. They we share our impressions from the experience. One major aspect discussed in this article is weed spray. You heard it right, El Chappo’s engineers probably figured this out, but alas some company has released the technology legally.
Ordering
The website actually wasn’t the worse ever. Dear I say, its better than most of the illegal websites out there. The interface worked well on our desktop pc and their cart system remembered us for a few days while we made up our mind what to buy and how to pay
It starts off with the typical age check. They make this very analog, with 3 drop downs. This is your first indication that they didn’t put a lot of creativity into this. Compare this to the signup process of popular porn sites and you will notice a very big different in something as simple as an age check.
We ended up purchasing the following items
- 1 gram shishkaberry $6.99
- 1 gram Island Pink $7.99
- 1 Symbol Cannabis Spray $29.99
- 1 package of Hemp Blunts $3.99
- 1 package of of hemp rolling papers $2.99
Shipping is $8 flat fee. PST currently at 7% and GST currently at 5%. The subtotal was $61.95 with the total price for our purchase being $78.35. We paid by credit card compared to the bank etransfer the illegal websites want you to do. Money comes from the same place (your bank account) but its definitely easier and more familiar to just enter the card info. With that said, use credit cards at your own risk. In the early days of legalization we were all warned not to use credit cards since that info is stored in the US and its still very illegal there. That info can be used when you cross the border. Company card vs Business?
You can easily navigate the menu to find bud, accessories, and other helpful information. You can typically see THC content although its often averaged.
Shipping & Packaging
Each province is going to have their own shipping setup. For us, shipping came from Richmond BC which is pretty much the same as Vancouver. The Cannabis and related products arrived within 2 days. This is a sharp contrast to the weeks we were hearing during weeks following the launch of legalization. Our door man signed for it since someone over 19 had to sign. The box was small and light. Packed well enough so that it did not rattle and nothing smelled of marijuana.
Packing sucked. For a country that prides itself on being green and recycling, there was a lot of unneeded waste in the packaging that’s going straight in a landfill to inevitably play boomerang with the Philippines again to get rid of it.
We can only assume that the justification for the packaging was to keep children safe. However, as you can see from the photo of the bag, we ended up just cutting it open like any child can do with scissors. So from that perspective, they failed in protecting children as well as our climate. Only the government can fail spectacularly at selling marijuana.
The Quality Test
Ok, I think everyone reading this wants to hear about the spray so lets start there. Out team took it out in downtown Vancouver to try it out. We had no problem getting it into bars or other places were you were searched before entry. We used it on the skytrain and around people downtown. Our first impressions are that no one knows this exists and they simply they you are freshening your breath… Now onto the feel
Much like vape pens, the Symbol Cannabis spray (made by the Emblem Cannabis Corporation of Northville Paris, ON) we purchased left a lot to be desired. You feel a heady high, but never get a full body experience. Instead of creativity you end up feeling spaced out. Maybe because the THC is oil based, it gives you this result both in vape pens and here again in the spray. Yeah you feel high but that’s not Bob Marley high or Seth Rogan, that’s just some synthetic stuff. Again, if you are a fan of the flower then this is a hard pass. Its cool and all that. Easy to, hide, transport, and consume. Even after all that, the team was left feeling like it was time for a hemp blunt. I think this falls squarely into the topic of synthetic marijuana
The shishkaberry from namaste had a real Sativa feel to it. Our testers felt the effect for hours. It surprisingly did the job well. The bud itself seems dry though like its been sitting in storage for a long time. This one gets a soft try rating from us.
The Island Pink was not impressive. We smoked it and the result was that no one can remember it by the time of writing this article. Not that we were high, it just wasn’t memorable. We would rate this a hard pass whatever its named.
The hemp papers were as expected. There are a little harder to roll that the traditional tobacco papers. However, they are a better smoke from our perspective. This one gets a hard try rating from our team.
Conclusion
Look for many of you who don’t live near a dispensary ultimately have no choice, you must buy weed from the government website if your plans it to acquire it legally. On the plus side, this means that you have options. On the down side, your options aren’t grade A. What are you going to do? Let us know in the comments section below.
