The New Brunswick government says a subsidiary of NB Liquor will operate recreational cannabis retail stores in the province.
Finance Minister Cathy Rogers says that advice received from other jurisdictions like Colorado and Washington is to start with tight government oversight.
READ: NB Liquor puts out tender for cannabis retail spaces in New Brunswick
She says NB Liquor has the experience in the retail market.
A tender was recently issued for 20 retail locations in 15 communities across the province.
READ: NB Liquor stores not best option for marijuana dispensaries, say stakeholders
NB Liquor President Brian Harriman says identification will be checked at the door and all products will be securely under glass.
WATCH: New Brunswick will ID legalized pot customers at the door.
He says online sales will also be available for pick-up at a retail store or home delivery.
New Brunswick has not yet announced a minimum age for marijuana, although a legislative committee recommended earlier this month that it be set at 19.
Ontario has said its minimum age will be 19, and Alberta 18.
READ: N.B. committee calls for government-run marijuana stores, legal age of 19
New Brunswick has made many details of its plan for legal recreational marijuana public more quickly than other provinces.
In mid-September, the province announced that it had signed supply contracts with Organigram Holdings in Moncton and Canopy Growth of Smiths Falls, Ont. The contracts lock down nine million grams for New Brunswick for the first year of legal sales.
Shortages of legal marijuana are widely expected in the early stages of legalization until production can catch up to demand.
NB Liquor’s request for proposals calls for retail stores to be “substantially complete” by May 31 of next year, a month before legalization takes effect on July 1. NB Liquor’s list of communities selected for retail locations is much more than any other province has made public, though Ontario has said it hopes to have 80 stores open by July of 2019.
WATCH: New Brunswick creates Crown corporation to oversee marijuana sales
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