Skip the Dishes, for weed: Manitoba's rules pave way for private delivery of legal pot

Founders of a new cannabis delivery platformset to launch in Winnipeg say they plan to use the Manitoba market as a test case for possible Canadian expansion, thanks to provincial laws that are comparatively friendly to online retailers.

"[We're] looking at it as the first kind of domino," said Ian Delves, president and co-founder of Super Anytime, a soon-to-launch cannabis delivery platform that operates in a way similar to Skip the Dishes or Uber Eats but delivering pot rather than food.

The app will serve as a platform for ordering, with customers able to take their pick of products from local retailers. The deliveries will be made by Pineapple Express, a same-day delivery service already operating in Winnipeg.

The app is set to make its debut in mid- to late November in Winnipeg, Delves said.

It's one of the few spots in Canada a business like Super canoperate, thanks to laws in the province that allow private retailers to oversee their own online shopping.

In many other provinces, only government-run stores can sell cannabis online. The exception is Saskatchewan, which has similar rules to Manitoba.

"Manitoba is the first one to open up and kind of accept this as something that is legal and within the framework of regulations today," said Michael Kniazeff, the other co-founder and CEO of Super Anytime.

Kniazeff and Delves are also the co-founders of Boozer, an alcohol delivery service based in Toronto. They're hoping to build on the success of Boozer with their cannabis delivery business.

"We're just very excited to finally stop talking about doing this and to actually action it and provide this to Canadians," Kniazeff said.

'Stigma of cannabis' lingers

Curtis Ling, a regional manager for Pineapple Express in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, said the first year of delivery in Winnipeg has been steady, after an initial surge in orders that had couriers scrambling.

The number of orders varies day-to-day, he said, but on average is between40 and 100 orders daily.

"We find every month that we're growing and more people are hearing about us," Ling said Friday.

He said the service is about helping to make cannabis shopping convenient, but also about providing a safe alternative for people who don't feel comfortable going into brick-and-mortar cannabis stores.

"That grey cloud is still there somewhat,Iwould say, of the stigma of cannabis. It hasn't quite lifted, even though it's legal," he said.

"We try to pride ourselves on customer service, discretion and security. [That] was our No. 1, Day 1 goal, is to do our best at those areas."

Pineapple Express also offers legal delivery of medical cannabis in some cities in Ontario, but is prohibited under that province's laws from delivering recreational cannabis.

In April, Ontario's provincial cannabis regulator cancelled a tender forsame-day pot deliveries that had been posted in January.

Super Anytime eyes expansion

When Super Anytime launches, customers will be able to use an app (available foriOS or Android devices) or a website to place and track their orders. Payment will be handled through a program that will send funds directly to retailers' websites, which Kniazeff said will keep the service in compliance with Manitoba laws, while deliveries will be made by Pineapple Express.

He added the company has had a positive response from local retailers and the province's Liquor, Cannabis and Gaming Authority.

Kniazeff and Delves believe making legal cannabis accessible will help curb the black marketone of the stated goals of legalizing the drug in the first place.

Delves said the company has also had conversations inSaskatchewan, and hopes to expand into that province in the future. He also hopes to launch aversion of the businessin Alberta, which would need to be tweaked to accommodate that province's laws.

"We're looking forward to kind of getting a chorus of voices in terms of the regulators, consumers, retailers, etc., saying, 'Hey, these guys are legitimate. It's great value,'" he said.

"And then [we'll] take that forward to the rest ofthe provinces. So really looking forward to getting that [test] case out of Manitoba."