Pubdate: Tue, 22 Sep 2015
Source: Nanaimo News Bulletin (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015, BC Newspaper Group
Contact:  http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/948
Author: Tamara Cunningham

NANAIMO REVIEWS OPTIONS ON POT SHOPS

Dispensaries keep opening in Nanaimo despite lack of rules.

Nanaimo city officials are looking at what can be done about pot
shops, as illegal dispensaries continue to open across the Harbour
City.

A city report on the issue of medical marijuana dispensaries is now in
the works, with staff members looking at how other B.C. municipalities
approached the pot retailers and what options are available to local
governments when regulating shops.

Medical marijuana dispensaries have been growing in numbers, openly
selling bud, tinctures, marijuana-infused candy and soda despite being
considered illegal by the federal government.

Health Canada licenses only six B.C. producers, including Tilray, to
sell to registered, medically prescribed patients and not from
storefronts.

The City of Vancouver has tried to address shops with new zoning and
business licence regulations, while the City of Victoria is now
looking at ways to regulate.

Nanaimo doesn't license dispensaries or levy fines for being without
one. Nanaimo RCMP, while aware of the stores, has previously told the
News Bulletin it takes time and resources to investigate
dispensaries.

Now with calls from proponents and citizens about medical marijuana
dispensaries and action from other local governments, Nanaimo will
take its own look at the issue.

Coun. Jerry Hong said he wants to provide some assurance to residents
that this municipality is doing what it can to look at the situation.
Mayor Bill McKay points to lack of support from the federal government
for putting municipalities in a position of having to decide what to
do with dispensaries. He said it has to take a "very hard" and "very
thorough" look at what it can possibly do.

"My biggest fear is not the sale, but it's the product that's going
out the door," he said, pointing out that Nanaimo has seen a number of
fentanyl deaths in the last year. "If these places are going to be
regulated, I want to ensure we're not in any way endorsing the
activities of a product that people are going to consume of which come
from unknown origin and has unknown content."

Greg Engel, chief executive officer for Tilray, believes the only
action the city can take is to work with the court system and police
to take action against the pot retailers.

"I can't really comment on what other steps they could take because
that's really kind of where the line is ... they are selling illegally
and they are creating a lot of misconceptions to legitimate patients
who could access a legal source through licensed producers like ourselves."

Anita Roy, assistant manager of Trees Dispensary Nanaimo, said her
company welcomes regulations that ensure the safety and quality for
its clients and patients and would like to see business licensing from
the city.

"It would legitimize our business and then they can collect revenue
and ask us to make sure that we are safe for our staff and our
clients," she said.

Federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose was not available for an
interview and an e-mailed statement did not address questions about
Nanaimo's review or how municipalities are expected to deal with
dispensaries. The statement maintained the federal government's stance
that the storefronts are illegal and will remain illegal under a
Conservative government and that police are expected to enforce the
law.
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