Pubdate: Sat, 30 Apr 2016
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Page: A6

RCMP RAID SIDNEY POT DISPENSARY

RCMP officers raided a marijuana dispensary in Sidney on Thursday.

Undisclosed items were seized at Dispensary by the Sea, Sidney-North
Saanich RCMP said in a statement.

Cpl. Erin Fraser said charges are expected against a Victoria area man
in his late 20s.

It's unclear what complaint or incident prompted the Mounties'
actions. But unrelated to the RCMP action, the Town of Sidney has made
it clear to the store operator that no marijuana should be sold at the
shop.

Randy Humble, Sidney's chief administrative officer, said the
municipality stipulated in the dispensary's business licence this year
that the premises are for office use only.

The City of Victoria, home to 32 marijuana shops, has chosen to
control them through regulation. A staff report on what those
regulations will look like is expected in mid-May.

But Esquimalt, which shares a municipal police force with Victoria,
bans dispensaries.

The RCMP raided three Nanaimo dispensaries in December, but all
reopened within days.

Mounties raided two dispensaries in Campbell River this month. The
municipal council there introduced a bylaw that would effectively ban
pot shops until Ottawa says they're legal.

In Vancouver, dispensaries not licensed by the city faced a Friday
deadline to shut their doors. Vancouver officials are to begin
cracking down this weekend on medical marijuana related businesses
that are in unapproved locations.

- - Times Colonist
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MAP posted-by: Matt