Pubdate: Mon, 06 Jul 2015
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2015 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Mike Hager
Page: S1

NON-PROFITS MAY BE ABLE TO AVOID RELOCATING FOR POT BYLAW

The city's oldest marijuana compassion clubs and other nonprofit
dispensaries may be able to sidestep the city's new bylaw that
restricts them from being near schools and community centres.

Councillor Kerry Jang, Vision Vancouver's spokesman on marijuana
issues, has said new rules barring any pot shops within 300 metres of
schools, community centres or other similar stores will apply to all
Vancouver's existing 100 dispensaries. This could mean up to
two-thirds may have to move to secure a special new business licence.

He reiterated on Friday that council will not grandfather in
non-profit dispensaries and compassion clubs. However, later that day,
Mr. Jang said there is a way for them to remain in their current
locations. In a meeting with representatives from the B.C. Compassion
Club Society and long-time cannabis activist Dana Larsen, who runs two
of Vancouver's oldest non-profit dispensaries, he explained how they
can apply to the Board of Variance for special permission to stay
within the buffer zones imposed by city staff.

"I'd like to see them survive, but really it's up to the Board of
Variance and I have no say there," Mr. Jang said.

All prospective business licensees must first apply for a development
permit, but if they are rejected they can appeal to the independent
five-person board, he said.

By only charging a $1,000 licence fee to non-profit compassion clubs,
versus the $30,000 charged to for-profit pot shops, the new rules were
meant to give those clubs preference. Mr. Jang said these facilities
"provide wraparound services, which are very different from the
for-profit ones, which are simply just selling pot."

Gilbert Tan, an architect and member of the board, said any compassion
club or dispensary asking for a reprieve from the buffer-zone rules
must demonstrate that the hardship they are facing outweighs any
problems their location presents to their neighbours.

"We have to look at both sides and then it's the weight of the
balances between the two sides," Mr. Tan said. "It's really up to
themselves to express themselves properly, we can't extract
information."

The B.C. Compassion Club Society first started serving patients on
Commercial Drive 18 years ago. Four years later, Stratford Hall
private school opened kitty-corner from the storefront. Club
spokeswoman Jamie Shaw said the school is a "trusted neighbour" that
has written letters of support and brought its students in for tours
in the past. A representative of the school was not available for
comment. Ms. Shaw said she is hopeful her club can remain there
because it can't compete with for-profit pot shops in an overheated
real estate market. City staff have estimated a maximum of 94
dispensaries and compassion clubs could survive after the new buffer
zones and other restrictions are enforced.

Pot advocate Mr. Larsen said he is scrambling to see whether he can
shore up support of his neighbours so he won't have to move both his
East Hastings Street and West End dispensaries, which opened up before
the "Green Rush" of new pot shops in the past two years and are run
through the non-profit Vancouver Dispensary Society.

"I do find that it's an irony, absolutely," he said, "of the new bylaw
potential putting him out of business.

"[We] and the B.C. Compassion Society really helped get the dispensary
thing going. We're the first places, definitely the most medical in
terms of how we screen our members and how we run stuff, and I think
we're both really good for our communities."
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MAP posted-by: Matt