NSLC to reinstate home delivery of cannabis after rural customers cut off
For the past four years, Nicholas Taylor has used a wheelchair to help him get around because of a debilitating medical condition.
Unable to stand for short periods of time, he can no longer work, live on his own or do some of the simple things he used to enjoy.
"It's a lot that I've had to give up, being in this wheelchair. I used to just go for drives all the time," said Taylor during a video call from his mother's home in Cooks Brook, N.S., near Middle Musquodoboit.
His mother is now his primary caregiver.
Taylor, 38, said he uses cannabis to help him manage his mood swings. He's been buying it online for as long as that option has been available in Nova Scotia.
"CBD just helps when I'm having those really down times," he said. "It helps with the depression."
Until a month ago, Taylor could order CBD products through the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC) and have it delivered it to his mother's home.
But on Nov. 5, the NSLC switched from Canada Post to a private courier company "to harmonize our home delivery program for both beverage alcohol and cannabis," according to the corporation's senior communications advisor, Terah McKinnon.
NSLC introduced the delivery of beer, wine and spirits in February 2022.
Last month's change meant home delivery was no longer available to Taylor and everyone else in the same postal code. After CBC reported on the issue, Taylor said he heard from the corporation that his delivery will resume mid-January and he would receive a $25 gift card.
Most of province covered, says NSLC
In an email statement to CBC News prior to that decision, McKinnon noted the corporation was able to continue to deliver to 96.6 per cent of postal codes across Nova Scotia.
"This means that out of 29,104 postal codes across the province, we are able to service 28,121," wrote McKinnon.
She could not say how many customers were cut off from home delivery, but said 146 postal codes have been used to purchase cannabis online that are not within the 28,121 postal codes the NSLC services.
McKinnon said the corporation does have a plan to service all postal codes by mid-January.
Karen Crocker of Long Island, N.S., just off Digby Neck, also found out she could no longer receive a cannabis product delivered by mail when she tried to place an order last month. (Mike Rehberg )
Karen Crocker, who lives on Long Island, just off Digby Neck, was in the same situation as Taylor. Like him, she learned of the change when she tried to place an order for her cannabis last month.
She also used it to help her cope with a medical condition.
"When people in my area attempt to get products, we are told we need to go to the nearest NSLC," Crocker wrote in an email to CBC News.
For Crocker, that meant travelling almost two hours to either Yarmouth or Annapolis Royal.
Some products only sold online
Crocker said many of the NSLC's cannabis products are only available online and not in-store, making them "totally unavailable" to people in parts of the province that are not serviced by home delivery.
"This is a totally unfair situation for those of us who rely on the online accessibility of NSLC cannabis," she wrote.
According to McKinnon, the corporation "anticipated that this change would affect a small number of customers."
She said the NSLC has "been tracking inquiries, informing our project team, and they are working on a resolution."
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