Major retail chain stocks pot

The same week that Marlboro took a near $2b stake in a pot company, Canadian chain Shoppers Drug Mart announced it has been granted a licence to sell medical marijuana online. Shoppers announced in the summer they intended to enter this market, so the license announcement was no surprise.

Health Canada’s list of authorized cannabis sellers and producers has been updated to reflect that the pharmacy can sell dried and fresh cannabis containing THC, as well as plants, seeds and oil.

A website has been set up by the company, which says that patients “with a valid medical document will soon be able to purchase a wide selection of medical cannabis products” from Shoppers.

A spokeswoman for Shoppers’parent company Loblaw Companies Ltd. said it’s too soon to say when people will be able to start making orders.

She said the company is still working through a “technical issue” with Health Canada.

The company was granted a medical marijuana producer licence in September, after initially applying in October 2016.

Shoppers has said that it has no interest in producing medical cannabis, but the licence is required in order to sell the product to patients.