Billboards advertise unlicensed medical marijuana, Regina police call it '100% illegal'

It's hard to miss if you're driving down one of Regina's main thoroughfares: A green billboard with a marijuana leaf logo.

For a few weeks, Vancouver's Erbachay Health Centers has been advertising its medicinal marijuana delivery service with billboards in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

In Saskatchewan, they're on electronic signs in Regina and Saskatoon.

It's not grey for us; it's 100 per cent illegal.- Darcy Koch, Regina Police Service inspector

The product, the billboard says, has "Canada-wide delivery." 

However, Erbachay is not one of Health Canada's licensed producers, nor does it have a licence from the City of Vancouver, according to company spokesman Darcy Delainey.

He said although a prescription isn't required, the company requires proof of age and identity, and information about the medical condition.

Delainey said he's aware that his company operates outside the strict legal framework for medicinal marijuana, but he wants to see the system changed.

Although some advocates have argued that unlicensed storefront medical marijuana dispensaries are operating in a legal grey zone, Regina police Insp. Darcy Koch disagrees.

"It's not grey for us; it's 100 per cent illegal," he said.

Koch said if police become aware that someone is distributing unlicensed marijuana through the mail, that is something they would investigate. 

He said "it can constitute trafficking."