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In this educational episode of the Legacies Podcast, hosts Tom Ritchie and Wesley Bowles discuss beverage brand Liquid Death’s promotional fighter jet sweepstakes, comparing it to historical advertising disputes like Leonard v. Pepsico. They analyze the recent OCS ‘By The Numbers’ report, noting that 54% of Ontario consumers purchase exclusively from legal retail channels, while examining market SKU additions and removals. The hosts welcome cannabis lawyer Harrison Jordan, founder of Substance Law, for a deep dive into Section 17 inducement regulations and the four-factor test for retail price discounts. Later, they interview Alannah Davis, CEO and co-founder of Dabble Cannabis Co., who shares her transition from corporate concentrate development at Aurora to establishing a family-owned, 5-acre sun-grown farm and wash facility in BC, producing craft products like Dabble Berry hash rosin.
Tom Ritchie Says: Hey, what’s going on, everyone? Welcome to another episode of Legacies! I’m your host, Tom Ritchie, joined by co-host and executive producer Mr. Wesley Bowles. Wes, how are you doing today?
Wesley Bowles Says: A little warm today, to be honest! I’m not one for extreme heat, especially being just two blocks from the lake with all the humidity.
Tom Ritchie Says: For someone who lived in Texas for seven years, dry heat is one thing, but Ontario humidity brings out the mosquitoes big time. Whenever I get bit, I swell up like crazy. We need to get some cannabis topical balms from Shauna Levy over at Madge and Mercer to soothe the itch!
Tom Ritchie Says: It’s officially planting season. While I’ve been prepping my vegetable garden, commercial outdoor growers across the country are putting plants in the ground. Today, we’re joined by Alannah Davis, CEO of Dabble Cannabis Company on Vancouver Island, as well as cannabis regulatory lawyer Harrison Jordan from Substance Law!
Tom Ritchie Says: Wes, you got me hooked on Liquid Death water after mentioning them on the show. Have you seen the wild marketing campaign they’re running right now?
Wesley Bowles Says: They’re giving away a real \$400,000 fighter jet called “The Dehydrator,” complete with six months of hangar space!
Tom Ritchie Says: It’s a direct parody of the infamous 1990s Pepsi Points commercial where a kid collected points to claim a Harrier Jet, leading to a massive lawsuit (Leonard v. Pepsico). Liquid Death is actually awarding the jet—or a \$250,000 cash alternate prize. In the cannabis space, running an aggressive sweepstakes or giveaway like that would instantly be shut down under strict Health Canada inducement and promotion rules.
Tom Ritchie Says: The Ontario Cannabis Store just released their latest OCS By The Numbers report, and some of the data points are eye-opening.
Wesley Bowles Says: According to the consumer purchase channel survey, 54% of Ontario consumers shop exclusively from legal retail, 39% buy from both legal and illicit sources, and 7% purchase exclusively from the illicit market.
Tom Ritchie Says: In terms of shopping behavior, 54% purchased in physical retail stores, 30% ordered directly through OCS.ca, and 14% used retailer click-and-collect websites. But the most staggering metric is SKU churn: in 2023, 2,847 new SKUs were listed, while 1,829 SKUs were delisted!
Wesley Bowles Says: Constantly pumping and dumping new SKUs every month is a losing battle. Brands that focus on dialing in 3 to 5 core cultivars—like Smoker Farms with their award-winning Master Kush Ultra—build long-term consumer loyalty.
Tom Ritchie Says: Furthermore, while 74% of survey respondents agreed that cannabis legalization has been positive for Canada, 25% still cited ‘normalizing cannabis use’ as a major downside. Meanwhile, alcohol is completely normalized with massive corporate stadium sponsorships like Budweiser Stage. Let’s bring in cannabis attorney Harrison Jordan to break down retail inducement laws!
Tom Ritchie Says: Welcome back! We are joined by Harrison Jordan, founder and managing lawyer of Substance Law. Harrison, thanks for jumping on!
Harrison Jordan Says: Thanks for having me, gentlemen! Pleasure to be here.
Tom Ritchie Says: You recently posted about deep retail discounts potentially triggering unlawful inducements. With retailers needing to clear out slow-moving winter stock ahead of fresh summer drops, where is the line between normal inventory clearance and an illegal inducement?
Harrison Jordan Says: Under Section 24 of the Cannabis Act, offering an inducement to purchase cannabis—or offering cannabis as an inducement—is prohibited. The language was adapted from tobacco legislation, but the term ‘inducement’ is not explicitly defined in the statute.
Harrison Jordan Says: Health Canada’s guidance previously suggested that temporary discounts, ‘Limited Time Offers,’ or ‘While Supplies Last’ sales could be construed as unlawful inducements to encourage over-consumption. After significant pushback, Health Canada adopted a multi-factor test evaluating discount size and promotion context.
Harrison Jordan Says: Interestingly, the AGCO (Ontario’s retail regulator) takes a different stance: they do not prohibit straight price discounts of any size—even 90% off or selling an ounce for \$10 to clear inventory. What the AGCO strictly bans is conditional discounts (e.g., ‘Buy Product A and get 10% off Product B’ or ‘Buy cannabis and get a free accessory’). Clear, objective guidance is essential so compliant retailers aren’t penalized for normal inventory management.
Tom Ritchie Says: Harrison, thank you for challenging the ambiguities and fighting for regulatory clarity for Canadian operators!
Tom Ritchie Says: Welcome back! We are joined by Alannah Davis, CEO and Co-Founder of Dabble Cannabis Company. Alannah, welcome to Legacies!
Alannah Davis Says: Awesome to be here, guys! Thanks so much for having me.
Tom Ritchie Says: You started your career at Lush Cosmetics before joining Aurora Cannabis in 2018 as a Business Process Manager during the chaotic dawn of legalization. How did that lead you back to your family’s farm in Duncan, BC?
Alannah Davis Says: My mom always told me that the reason I couldn’t find my dream career was because it didn’t exist yet! At Aurora, I helped build wholesale supply chains from scratch across every province. But by late 2019, massive corporate layoffs began hitting hardworking frontline staff while bloated executive layers remained untouched.
Alannah Davis Says: Meanwhile, my dad Doug—a lifelong consumer and former personal medical grower—had spent 18 months digging out our farm on an excavator in Duncan (Cowichan Valley), an area blessed with a unique Mediterranean microclimate known by local Indigenous nations as ‘Warm Land.’ When COVID hit, I moved to the farm to help my dad navigate Health Canada’s grueling licensing paperwork. By the summer of 2021, we were officially licensed, and I went all in!
Tom Ritchie Says: What was the original vision for Dabble, and how did you transition into solventless rosin?
Alannah Davis Says: Our original corporate name was Advanced Medicinals Inc., and our plan was simply to harvest outdoor flower, freeze it, and sell bulk fresh-frozen. But shipping sub-zero fresh-frozen biomass across Canada was financially impossible for a small family farm.
Alannah Davis Says: When wholesale buyers lowballed us, our neighbors at Alterna Cannabis offered to let us wash our harvest in their lab. My dad and I washed 900 kilos of fresh-frozen biomass completely by hand! After that, we teamed up with a local fabricator to build our own custom commercial hash washing vessel. We renamed the company Dabble—representing dabs plus Doug, Alannah, and Brody, with numerology balancing to the number 8 for prosperity—and launched our first solventless live rosin directly to market!
Tom Ritchie Says: Selecting outdoor genetics for solventless ice-water extraction must be completely different from indoor flower cultivation.
Alannah Davis Says: Outdoor plants in coastal BC must finish early before the fall rainforest rains arrive. Buds must have open, airy spacing to prevent powdery mildew and botrytis bud rot. But for hash extraction, the microscopic anatomy of the trichome is everything.
Alannah Davis Says: The trichome gland head must have a strong, intact cell wall and a tapered abscission zone at the stalk. If the membrane is too weak, the trichome head ruptures in ice water, dumping terpenes and cannabinoids into the drain. We trialed and culled over 45 to 50 strains to find our three signature washing powerhouses: Strawberry Jam, Dabbleberry (Blueberry x Wedding Cake), and vintage Hash Plant. We’re also testing elite small-batch California genetics like Don Noni from Little Lake Seed Valley Co.
Tom Ritchie Says: How do you manage the risks of outdoor farming and short harvest windows?
Alannah Davis Says: In 2021, we dealt with fall rains; in 2022, spring rains stunted early vegetative growth; and in 2023, September frost forced us to leave thousands of plants in the field, yet we still doubled our extraction yield! We establish strong root systems in greenhouses before transplanting clones outdoors during the first week of June.
Alannah Davis Says: We also host direct farm tours and created a designated ‘Petting Zoo’ garden where guests from our on-site Airbnb can touch, smell, and photograph flowering plants without contaminating commercial production blocks. My sister, a holistic cannabis registered nurse of 20 years, even hosts educational wellness sessions for local senior communities!
Tom Ritchie Says: What makes solventless live rosin such a special concentrate for you?
Alannah Davis Says: The first live rosin dab I ever experienced gave me an immediate, clear-headed euphoria without any of the heavy brain fog or respiratory heaviness associated with smoking combusted plant material and rolling papers. It feels like putting on rose-colored glasses!
Alannah Davis Says: We preserve everything in sub-zero freezers and cold-cure our rosin in small batches. I refuse to white-label for other brands because our family puts all the blood, sweat, and tears into the lab. My dream is to operate Dabble like a boutique estate winery—where enthusiasts visit our farm, stay at the loft, and join a waitlist for exclusive seasonal drops. We sell out consistently in BC dispensaries and ship nationwide through Mendo Medical!
Wesley Bowles Says: Last week, Jazz Samra left an anonymous question for you: “How long of a runway should a CEO have when a licensed producer is struggling with heavy losses before they are replaced?”
Alannah Davis Says: In a public company, if you inherit a broken ship, you should be given at least a full year to implement operational turnarounds. But if you created the decline through reckless spending, you should be out within a couple of quarters. In a private family farm like ours, major capital decisions are made collaboratively around the kitchen table with my dad, brother, and our master grower Ross.
Tom Ritchie Says: What is your anonymous question for next week’s incoming guest?
Alannah Davis Says: “What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?”
Tom Ritchie Says: And before we wrap, what is the best piece of advice you’ve received?
Alannah Davis Says: “If an opportunity or job description doesn’t exist for what you want to achieve, write the proposal and create it yourself!”
Tom Ritchie Says: Alannah, you and your family are an absolute inspiration! Make sure to grab Dabble’s solventless rosin in BC dispensaries or across Canada on Mendo Medical. Subscribe on YouTube and Spotify, and we’ll see you next week on Legacies. Peace!
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CEO & Co-founder
Alannah Davis is the CEO and co-founder of Dabble Cannabis Co., leading a family-owned, sun-grown craft cannabis and rosin farm in British Columbia.
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Licensed Producer
Dabble Cannabis Co. is a family-owned, sun-grown craft cannabis producer located on a 5-acre cultivation parcel in British Columbia. The...
Learn More About Partner ↗Dabble Cannabis Co. is a family-owned, sun-grown micro-cultivator in British Columbia co-founded by Alannah Davis, specializing in hand-washed bubble hash and premium live hash rosin.
Section 17 of the Cannabis Act prohibits sellers from offering free cannabis or accessories, or offering promotions that could induce overuse, overpurchase, or initiate non-users. Health Canada evaluates discounts using factors like size and location (in-store vs. public).
It is an annual statistical release by the Ontario Cannabis Store detailing retail market share, consumer purchase channels (54% legal-only in Ontario), and product SKU performance.
