Pubdate: Wed, 22 Mar 2017
Source: Tri-City News (Port Coquitlam, CN BC)
Copyright: 2017 Tri-City News
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/3X3xlf9Y
Website: http://www.tricitynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1239

WAIT, WEED ENTREPRENEURS

Pot activists should take a chill pill and wait for federal
legislation legalizing marijuana before setting up a business that
makes criminals out of their customers.

There is no grey area: Possession and sale of marijuana for
non-medical purposes is still illegal. Yet twice local entrepreneurs
have tried to set up shop in Port Coquitlam.

One was a franchise operating under the Cannabis Culture brand owned
by the Mark and Jodie Emery, a couple facing multiple charges on
pot-related offences in Ontario. It was one of 19 marijuana stores
under the brand, and although it didn't last long, it made a
laughingstock of local bylaws while it was open.

Last week, the city moved to close loopholes by banning weed sales and
establishing fines and requiring compensation for policing costs.

You would think these bylaw changes would be unnecessary given that
selling non-medical marijuana is a federal crime but marijuana
entrepreneurs have chosen to ignore that technicality while
establishing beachheads in numerous locations across the country to
get out in front of regulations and establish their brand.

In this, Mark and Jodie Emery and their supporters are either
forward-thinking or arrogant, depending on your point of view.

But in styling themselves as progressive leaders, they are ignoring
the fact that until rules are in place, these shops are a magnet for
crime, raising numerous safety and policing concerns, and creating
potential costs for taxpayers and uncertainty among potential customers.

This is not to say that marijuana shouldn't be made legal within
strict rules. There is much to commend legalization and control of pot
sales.

Even the Canadian government acknowledges as much on its justice
ministry website, laying out public safety, cutting into organized
crime and (hopefully) limiting access to youth as key reasons for
making marijuana legal.

This acknowledgement on the part of a federal government wasn't tacit
acceptance, however, of unlawful businesses, and even if the Liberals
introduced legislation tomorrow, there would be some time to go before
pot shops can open legally.

In a democracy, we tend to wait for politicians representing
constituents to first have their say, then the Senate gets a stab at
the new laws before they are given royal assent. So these small
business owners should wait until the law is on their side before
applying for a business licence here in PoCo, or anywhere else in
Canada for that matter.
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MAP posted-by: Matt