Uber has said its new cannabis delivery service will attract more Canadian adults to turn to safe, legal weed, which will ultimately help the country wrest sales away from the illicit market.
By Nina Zdinjak
Uber is getting into the cannabis industry in Canada!
The delivery and takeout division of Uber has teamed up with the cannabis retailer Tokyo Smoke to deliver weed products orders via Uber Eats in Ontario, Canada, a company spokesperson confirmed to Reuters.
Under the new arrangement, adult consumers can order cannabis via the Uber Eats’ app and then pick it up at their closest Tokyo Smoke shop, starting today (Monday) at 9 a.m. ET.
The rideshare company that already delivers alcohol via its Uber Eats division has been contemplating joining the booming marijuana space for a while. In April, the company’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi revealed that Uber is open to including cannabis deliveries in the U.S. once the plant is legal on the federal level.
“When the road is clear for cannabis, when federal laws come into play, we’re absolutely going to take a look at it,” Khosrowshahi said at the time.
It’s been over three years since Canada legally embraced adult-use cannabis sales in an effort to deal with the illicit and unsafe marijuana market. Nevertheless, the country is still having trouble with illegal producers that are somehow still managing to snag a significant share of total annual sales.
Uber has said its new cannabis delivery service with Tokyo Smoke will attract more Canadian adults to turn to safe, legal weed, which will ultimately help the country wrest sales away from the illicit market that now accounts for more than 40% of all non-medical marijuana sales across Canada, reported Reuters.
What’s Next?
Will Uber reach other provinces with this new cannabis delivery service? So far, there is no clear confirmation from the company.
RELATED: Uber Wants To Explore Marijuana Delivery Once It’s Federally Legal
“We will continue to watch regulations and opportunities closely market by market. And as local and federal laws evolve, we will explore opportunities with merchants who operate in other regions,” the Uber spokesperson told Reuters.
Uber Expressed Interest In The Cannabis Space Last Year
This is not the first time Uber has explored the advantages and opportunities in the cannabis space. Last year, Uber hired cannabis advertiser Fyllo to help it target cannabis consumers when marketing its food delivery services, Bloomberg reported.
RELATED: Are Amazon, Uber, Etc. The Future Of Post-Pandemic Cannabis?
“A cannabis consumer is younger than the normal consumer, has more disposable income; they are busier than most, they are working all the time, exercising all the time, going on adventures all the time,” Travis Freeman, Uber’s global head of media, told the outlet at the time.
Reportedly, Uber revealed that cannabis consumers are more prone to finish watching video ads than average consumers.
This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been reposted with permission.
