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w at er lo oc hr on ic le .c a W at er lo o C hr on ic le | T hu rs da y, Ja nu ar y 16 ,2 02 0 | 10 519.658.9025 | www.grahams.ca | free in-home consultation 11 Queen street east, cambridge 25% off DraPerY & uPholsterY faBrics free shoP at home 25% off Dra25% off Dra BuY2 get 1 free blinds, shades & shutters Book your appointment now for January and saVe the taX! Two years ago, Evan Ad- cock left university to focus on an app that would change the way consumers get their legal weed. He wanted to bring can- nabis right to their door - think Uber Eats for canna- bis - and he wanted to take on the black market weed delivery apps he knew were thriving. So he developed Water- loo-based Verda, an app originally designed for download on iPhones and Android devices. Then he hit a major roadblock. Since Apple and Google are both U.S.-based compa- nies and cannabis is still il- legal in the U.S., the co- founder and CEO of Verda Innovations said they re- fused to host his app. Instead of giving up, Ad- cock moved Verda to the web-based platform. "On the consumer side you log on, you can see re- tailers, all legal licensed re- tailers in your area with an updated inventory because we've integrated it with a point of sale system," Ad- cock explains. Using the platform, reg- ulated cannabis retailers can see and accept the or- der and then get connected to a third party courier ser- vice through Verda's net- work. "We don't hire Verda drivers. It's not like Uber in that sense. We partner with same-day local courier companies with full-time employees, insurance, a lot more compliant," Adcock says. "They see it through our platform and can go pick it up and deliver it same day. We're not a re- tailer, we're not a courier, we just facilitate every- thing through our soft- ware." "Providing customers with a secure and legiti- mate way to place orders for their favourite legal cannabis products is super important to us," states Ad- cock. But Verda is currently unable to launch in Onta- rio due to the government control over online distri- bution and delivery. How- ever, they have a pilot out in Saskatchewan that Ad- cock says is doing quite well, and they will be launching their entire technology with govern- ment OK in Massachusetts in early 2020. Adcock says the tech- nology is built, ready and waiting for government ap- proval, and Verda's goal is to have their entire tech- nology enabled in every single region, Canada and U.S.-wide. "We are launching our full-blown directory. We're only going to have legal li- censed retailers on our platform and it's more for piece of mind. We believe everyone should be able to relax and enjoy cannabis," says Adcock. For many cannabis us- ers, greater access to legal weed can't come soon enough. In Kitchener alone, there are over 20 illegal delivery services and storefronts. "The entire (Kitchener- Waterloo) area is buying il- legal, because there is no legal, licensed retailer in this entire city. Where are they going to go? The illicit market," Adcock says. "The OCS (Ontario Cannabis Store) is three to five-day delivery, no one is buying off that," he adds. In July of 2019, Stats Canada reported only 29 per cent of all users get their cannabis from a legal retailer. The remaining 71 per cent still flock to the il- legal market. "(There's) a recent study from 2018 that says people are willing to pay 50 per cent more for legal canna- bis, given equal accessibil- ity for that perceived qual- ity and safety. If I was to hold out two pieces of can- nabis, one legal and one il- legal. If they're both in front of you, would pay 50 per cent more for the legal one because it's safer," Ad- cock says. You know what you're getting with legal canna- bis. Marijuana purchased on the street has no guar- antees. There have been re- ports of marijuana being laced with stronger drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, LSD and possible opioids. In August, the Public Health Agency of Canada reported between January 2016 and September 2018, more than 10,300 Canadi- ans died as a result of an opioid-related overdose. "We're seeing it every- day in the E.R. with unin- tentional overdoses where the patient was fairly cer- tain their product was clean," said Stephanie Brown, a nurse at Stratford General Hospital. "It's important to take the guessing game out of it and seek out a safe, certi- fied product. When E. coli is found in our lettuce we do everything in our power to get it off the shelf and out of our consumers' hands, and I feel we should be do- ing the same when it comes to marijuana," Brown said. "There was a poll that 35 to 40 per cent who tried the legal market switched back immediately because of how bad it was. They went back to the illicit market where they can get it to their door in 30 minutes and that's where they stuck," Adcock said. "Maybe if we have a more convenient system, people would be like, OK, maybe it's more expensive, but it's safer, I know where it's coming from, I have a lot more information on it. There's no risk involved and that's what is going to help people make that tran- sition," Adcock said. VERDA AIMS TO DELIVER CANNABIS CONSUMERS A SAFE PRODUCT MICHELLE BARIL baril.mich@gmail.com NEWS Verda CEO Evan Adcock at the Velocity incubator in Waterloo. Michelle Baril photo