Pubdate: Thu, 16 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

LICENSING FEES MAY BE 'PROHIBITIVE,' EXPERT SAYS

Vancouver's pot shops may have a legal case if they challenge new 
city rules that charge them tens of thousands of dollars for a 
licence - far more than other businesses, including body-rub parlours 
and escort agencies, experts say.

Joel Bakan, a law professor at the University of British Columbia, 
says a court could see the $30,000 fee charged to for-profit medical 
marijuana dispensaries as "as prohibitive, rather than merely regulatory."

"Is there justification ... to charge a hundredfold more for a pot 
shop than for a pet shop? That is the question," Prof. Bakan said.

New rules prevent dispensaries from setting up within 300 metres of 
schools and other pot shops, and they ban the sale of edible cannabis 
candies and baked goods over concerns they appeal to children.

The licensing fee was approved by city council last month, along with 
a $1,000 fee for non-profit compassion clubs.

The city said it had to respond to the growth of marijuana shops - as 
many as 100 now - which technically violate federal drug laws' 
prohibition on selling pot. The deadline to apply for the licences is 
the end of August. The city is refusing to say how many applications 
it has received.

The owner of Vancouver's largest chain of dispensaries says he and 
other operators are contemplating a lawsuit, but the city said no one 
has filed a legal challenge.

Prof. Bakan said council is right to limit where dispensaries can be 
located and what they can sell, but he argued the "completely 
disproportionate" dispensary fee could be seen as an attempt to stamp 
out the storefront sales of marijuana. He said this could allow 
dispensaries to argue that shutting down illegal sales of marijuana 
is federal jurisdiction and not the city's job. The Conservative 
government has vehemently opposed the medical and recreational use of 
pot, but has not said whether it will respond to Vancouver's new rules.

"There isn't a ruling out there by a court that says pot shops are 
illegal, so it's obviously a grey area," Prof. Bakan said.

Patrick Smith, a political scientist at Simon Fraser University, said 
Vancouver's high dispensary fee is likely aimed at drastically 
reducing, not eliminating, the stores that now operate in almost 
every corner of the city. "Maybe get it down to 10, so you can 
monitor and regulate them better," Prof. Smith said.

Prof. Bakan said a legal precedent exists for the courts stopping a 
city that overstepped its boundaries attempting to regulate criminal 
matters. In 1983, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down Calgary's 
prostitution bylaw, which fined sex-trade workers at least $100 if 
they were caught on the street soliciting.

"The city attempted to justify it ... by saying, 'Look, we're just 
controlling the streets, this is like jaywalking or putting signs on 
the sidewalk. It's all the same,' " Prof. Bakan said. "The court 
said, 'No. ... We think you're trying to punish prostitution.' "

Councillor Kerry Jang of the governing Vision Vancouver party said 
the fees will help pay for implementing and enforcing the new rules, 
which staff estimated would cost $1.4-million the first year, about 
$700,000 the year after and $500,000 the next.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom