Pubdate: Thu, 14 May 2015
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Kelly Sinoski
Page: A1

BRITISH COLUMBIA A 'NO MAN'S LAND' IN TERMS OF POT

Municipalities take varied approaches to dispensaries, citing lack of
guidance

As Vancouver attempts to control a proliferation of marijuana
dispensaries by regulating them, other B.C. cities have taken measures
to stop the storefronts from popping up in the first place.

Both North Vancouver District and Surrey have passed zoning bylaws to
prohibit the marijuana dispensaries, while other municipalities say
their police forces, particularly the RCMP, have zero tolerance for
the illegal facilities and will shut them down.

The situation underlines the disparate approach to pot dispensaries
across Canada. B.C. is an anomaly, with some municipalities - like
Vancouver and Victoria - considering licensing and regulation of
dispensaries or turning a blind eye when they set up, while others
fall more in line with the rest of Canada by not allowing the
storefronts.

Kelowna, for instance, has refused to issue business licences for the
storefronts, which led police to shut down two dispensaries in the
past couple of months. Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan, whose city saw
one dispensary pop up near Metrotown before it was raided and shut
down by the RCMP, said it will ultimately be up to the federal
government to regulate the dispensaries and provincial governments to
set controls across the province.

Otherwise, he warned, it will lead to a "Wild West"
scenario.

"Right now this is completely a no man's land. The federal government
has handled it so incompetently, it's left the province with no
direction to take," Corrigan said.

The federal government has put the onus on municipalities to enforce
the law around medical pot but has done nothing to crack down as a
court case filed by medical pot users continues. The case was launched
by medical pot users who were told they could no longer grow pot in
their homes, but would have to buy it from central facilities and
receive it by mail.

Vancouver officials argue the situation has resulted in 80 unlicensed
pot shops across the city and is proposing to regulate the storefronts
by issuing $30,000 licensing fees and closing shops near schools and
community centres, while allowing them in most commercial districts.

But Health Minister Rona Ambrose and Public Safety Minister Steven
Blaney recently warned Vancouver council members and Vancouver police
they should crack down, rather than regulate, and thereby legitimize,
pot dispensaries.

The move prompted the Lower Mainland Local Government Association
executive last week to pass a resolution calling for the authority for
municipalities to regulate marijuana dispensaries in their own cities.
Surrey was the lone holdout in that decision, however, saying it
doesn't allow the dispensaries so the resolution didn't apply.

"We don't want to go through a situation where we have dispensaries
popping up throughout our city," Surrey Coun. Bruce Hayne said.

"We don't believe that's the best way to distribute medical marijuana.
We've got so many youth in our community, we have drug-related issues
in our city ... we just don't want to go there."

Surrey in 2011 amended its zoning bylaw to ban marijuana dispensaries
that are not licensed by the provincial or federal governments. Around
the same time, North Vancouver District took an even stronger stance
by creating a bylaw to ban all dispensaries.

Officials from both municipalities, though, say they would likely
reconsider their stance if the federal government regulated the
dispensaries.

"I don't think council is against medical marijuana; just now there's
a huge gap," North Vancouver District Mayor Richard Walton said.

"We've come in and used a pretty heavy hammer until the federal
government gives us clarity on this."

Jonathan Cote, mayor of New Westminster, agreed the federal government
has to take leadership on the issue, saying pot legalization in the
U.S. has changed the landscape.

"Having individual mayors deal with federal issues is problematic," he
said.

"There's going to be a case where we start seeing these things showing
up in municipalities and without a framework, it puts municipalities
in a difficult spot."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt