If the owner of Yellowknife's liquor stores were to sell cannabis, he'd do it at the uptown shop.
“Probably,” said Edward Eggenberger, hedging. “That would be the one, if we did it.”
Eggenberger declined to say definitively whether he would or wouldn't sell cannabis once it's legal.
“Nothing has been finalized with the government,” he said.
The prohibition on cannabis is set to end this summer.
When that happens, cannabis in the NWT will be sold at liquor stores and by mail-order for at least six months.
Eggenberger, who owns both of Yellowknife's liquor stores, said the government can't force him to sell the drug once it's legal.
In an interview with Yellowknifer, he expressed indifference to both the prospect of selling marijuana, and to legalization in general.
A primary reason to legalize cannabis is to depress the illicit market.
It's unclear how the Government of Northwest Territories would achieve this goal in Yellowknife if the only way to buy legal weed is through the mail.
The Liquor Shop on Borden Drive has been undergoing renovations, stirring speculation the store is preparing to accommodate cannabis products and accessories.
Eggenberger said the main reason a new wall went up was because the store didn't need all that space.
He said if he were to sell cannabis, he would sell accessories as well, such as pipes and bongs.
New staff would be hired and all employees would get training, Eggenberger added.
When asked whether, if he chose to sell cannabis, he'd sell it on the other side of the new wall, Eggenberger said “sure.”
Regular MLAs railed against the government's proposal to sell cannabis out of liquor stores, saying the model would encourage people to use both drugs at the same time, and be harmful to cannabis consumers who are trying to avoid of alcohol.
The minister of Justice, Louis Sebert, maintains that “walking out of one door and into another just steps away is not much of a deterrent.”
Though a separate entrance is not required, the uptown Liquor Shop does have a door that seems to open onto an empty space.
Yellowknife is not wanting for entrepreneurs eager to enter a government-sanctioned weed business.
Sarah Murphy would happily sell legal cannabis, if given the chance.
The owner of Harley's Hardrock Saloon is planning to open a head shop called Premium MJ, and already has a property in mind, though she would not say where.
Murphy envisions a one-stop-shop for all things cannabis.
“We're selling the education, we're selling the products to go with it, the smoking devices, as well as – hopefully – the cannabis also,” Murphy said on Thursday.
She wants to sell a multitude of strains, just as the liquor store sells a variety of beers, wines and spirits.
The government will make a variety of cannabis strains available and prices will vary “depending on the quality of the product,” wrote Todd Sasaki, spokesperson for the Department of Finance.
Edibles however, won't be sold until at least a year after legalization, said Sasaki.
Cannabis retailers will be required to keep their stock in a locked cabinet and customers must request the product from a staff member, he added.
Murphy is confident the GNWT will let private vendors into the weed market eventually.
“Right now, I feel it's just a waiting game,” she said.