TORONTO, Nov. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cannabis Xpress, a licensed operator of 14 cannabis retail stores in Ontario, will pay a penalty of $100,000 for pursuing and accepting prohibited payments from licensed cannabis producers (LPs).Ontario's cannabis rules bar cannabis retailers from demanding payments from LPs as a condition of securing product orders or giving preferential treatment to products in their stores. The rules exist to protect consumers and ensure a level playing field in the legal cannabis industry.The regulatory breaches were discovered following a comprehensive compliance assessment by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), which included an exhaustive review of over 82,000 documents.The review concluded that:Between January 2021 and July 2023, Cannabis Xpress entered into agreements or arrangements with at least 61 LPs, the majority of which were referred to as "Data Sharing Agreements" or "Data Agreements".While the agreements were ostensibly related to the sale of data, the fees to be paid under some of the agreements were, in fact, based on the number of ...Full story available on Benzinga.com
