Some Canadian cannabis seed sellers using Canada-based Shopify to power their payment systems online say they have recently received letters from the company asking them to demonstrate they are authorized to sell cannabis seeds in Canada.
Jason, of the website Jordan of the Islands, who only gave his first name, says the company received an email notice on Oct 31st asking them for documentation to prove they are authorized to sell cannabis seeds. Jason says hes not surprised by the move, and hopes to have their website operational again by this weekend.
Its hardly a surprise, Im sure well start getting cease and desist orders or fines too," says Jason. "Maybe its the legal attention we need for Canadians to finally realize that cannabis seeds are illegal, now more than ever before. Our site will be back up by Sunday.
Another retailer, who apparently runs JAHSeeds.ca, recently posted to social media to share a similar experience. JAHSeeds.ca is currently in operation, although it appears to no longer be using Shopify for payments. The owners of the website were unavailable for comment at press time.
Shopify is a Canadian e-commerce company headquartered in Ottawa, which also offers retailers a computer software platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. Numerous companies use Shopify to power their shopping cart/checkout system for online sales.
No one at Shopify was available for comment at press time, although an employee answered a question on a Shopify message board about selling cannabis seeds in the US by stating that such activities are only permitted if done from a state that has legalized cannabis.
Cannabis seeds are not legal in Canada unless purchased from a Health Canada-approved licensed producer (only two currently sell seeds to authorized patients, with another 9 selling clones). Despite this, there are numerous online seed retailers operating in Canada, often without much input from authorities. One seed retailer, Kingston 420, was raided earlier this year by local police and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
According to media at the time, a spokesperson for CBSA said that the investigation was related to the illegal importation of goods. A post on Kingston 420s Facebook said the CBSA seized all of their seed products. Earlier this year Crop King Seeds, a well known cannabis seed retailer in Canada, quietly announcedchanges in ownership to best navigate what they saw as increasing enforcement of these laws.
In addition to Jordan of the Islands, at least two other small Canadian cannabis seed shops powered by Shopify are also currently not available, including marijuanaseedsdepot.com and stonetoolseed.com.
In an interview with Lift earlier this year, Rebecca Ambrose of the Vancouver Seed Bank, a store in downtown Vancouver that specializes in cannabis seeds, said the lack of legal clarity around the product can be challenging.
I think the biggest issue right now is potentially over-regulation, and the general public being confused as to what the laws actually are right now, said Ambrose. The most common misconception that I hear that is really frustrating is that cannabis seeds are not illegal. But they are, in fact, very, very illegal. Even though people are not necessarily being arrested every ...
