Pubdate: Fri, 26 Jun 2015
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Vancouver Courier
Contact:  http://www.vancourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474
Author: Mike Howell
Page: A1

CITY APPROVES POT SHOP RULES

Federal Health Minister 'Deeply Disappointed' In Decision

Vancouver has become the first municipality in Canada to adopt 
regulations for illegal marijuana dispensaries and will begin to 
issue business licences to a maximum of 94 pot shops in the coming months.

City council voted 8-3 Wednesday to proceed with a staff proposal 
that calls for $30,000 annual licence fees ($1,000 for non-profit 
"compassion clubs"), criminal record checks and zoning regulations 
that prohibit pot shops from operating within 300 metres of schools, 
community centres and each other.

Council's decision also allows for dispensaries - of which there were 
more than 90 in the city's last count - to sell marijuana oils, 
tinctures and capsules. Staff's original draft recommended only 
marijuana oil be sold. All marijuana-infused goods such as cookies 
and brownies are banned from the shops.

"It's just, simply, a common sense approach to dealing with the 
explosion of medical marijuana shops in our city," said Vision Coun. 
Kerry Jang who, along with his Vision colleagues and Green Party 
Coun. Adriane Carr, voted in favour of the regulations. "We're not 
regulating the product, we're regulating the business."

Council's passing of the regulations means existing pot shop 
operators have 60 days to apply for a business licence. The city has 
drawn up a stringent set of criteria that each operator must meet to 
be granted a licence, including an examination of past business 
practices and whether police have deemed the operation a problem 
premise. City staff estimates the regulations will allow for a 
maximum of 94 shops.

Operators of non-profit "compassion clubs" will have to prove they 
meet the city's definition of such a club, including being registered 
under the province's Society act and offering at least two health 
services such as psychological counselling and traditional Chinese 
medicine for 60 per cent of operating hours or more per month.

Mayor Gregor Robertson and the majority of councillors said the 
regulations were necessary because the Conservative government of 
Prime Minister Stephen Harper failed in its policies to give people 
proper access to medical marijuana, despite precedent-setting Supreme 
Court of Canada decisions.

Tied to a court ruling in 2001 that made possession possible for 
medical marijuana patients is the federal government's move in 2013 
to have all marijuana cultivated for medicinal purposes come from a 
government dispensary and delivered by mail. Earlier this month, the 
Supreme Court of Canada ruled all forms of marijuana can be consumed 
by Canadians. Federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose said she was 
outraged by the decision.

In his remarks, Vision Coun. Geoff Meggs pointed to letters he and 
other councillors received from Ambrose and Public Safety Minister 
Stephen Blaney, who criticized council for considering regulations 
for pot shops. The ministers said marijuana sales at pot shops was 
illegal and will remain illegal under the Conservative government.

"I just want to say in response to that, to minister Ambrose: 'Wake 
up, you are completely out of touch with the realities on the 
ground,'" Meggs said. "The policies that you're advocating are 
backward and destructive and they've driven us to take the steps that 
are necessary here today."

In a statement emailed to the Courier Wednesday, Ambrose said she was 
"deeply disappointed" in council's decision and expected police to 
enforce the law. She said marijuana is neither an approved drug nor 
medicine in Canada and Health Canada doesn't endorse its use.

"While Canadian courts have required the government to allow access 
to marijuana when authorized by a physician, the law is clear that 
this must be done in a controlled fashion to protect public health 
and safety," Ambrose said.

All three NPA councillors - George Affleck, Elizabeth Ball and 
Melissa De Genova - voted against the regulations, although they said 
they support the legalization of marijuana and how it can help people 
in need of medicine to treat illnesses.

"This has been, in effect, policy by neglect that we're putting 
together today," Affleck said. "We have the laws in place that could 
have dealt with the proliferation of these retail stores. The police, 
for whatever reason, did not follow those policies, those rules that 
we currently have."

The Vancouver Police Department is on record saying violent drug 
dealers, who trade in hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine, are top 
priorities for its drug unit, although it has executed nine search 
warrants over a recent 18-month period on pot shops.

While the police say the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act allows 
for police to make arrests and recommend charges to Crown, it does 
not allow officers to close a pot shop's doors. For example, police 
raided The Real Compassion Society at 151 East Hastings three times 
since 2013 but it continues to operate today. Under the new 
regulations, the city and police can now take action, mainly through 
the courts, to shut down a dispensary.

Affleck said he believes the regulations will lead to "a myriad of 
nightmare litigious situations from every level of every kind of 
group," including operators who aren't granted licences and advocates 
upset about the city's ban on marijuana-infused goods.

"I think we're going to have a fight from the federal government 
itself, potentially," he said, noting the cost of implementing the 
regulations, which are estimated at $1.4 million in the first year. 
"Do we want to spend potentially millions of taxpayer dollars 
fighting in the courts on many, many different fronts? I don't think 
that's responsible governance."

Jamie Shaw, communications coordinator for the B.C. Compassion Club, 
told reporters after the council meeting that she was worried the new 
regulations will mean the oldest pot shop in Vancouver will have to 
close or relocate.

The dispensary on Commercial Drive is located across the street from 
Stratford Hall, a private school that moved to the neighbourhood 
after the pot shop opened its doors in 1997. The school and the 
Compassion Club are well within the 300 metres that restricts pot 
shops from operating.

"Without a specific grandfathering clause, there are still actually 
options and hopefully we can work with city hall to reach some sort 
of solution," Shaw said. "Overall, I think staff and council have 
worked really hard to try and balance everybody's concerns and came 
up with a great first step."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom