Pubdate: Thu, 19 Oct 2017
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2017 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Gemma Karstens-Smith
Page: S2

CITIES SCURRY TO HAVE SAY ON POT LEGALIZATION

Concerns over where legal marijuana will be grown has local
governments looking for right to designate production areas

The looming deadline for legalized marijuana has local governments in
British Columbia crafting wish lists for provincial legislation, from
where pot should be grown to how it should be sold.

Ottawa has said regulations must be in place by July 1 and the B.C.
government announced last month that it wants public input on shaping
the rules.

While some municipal politicians worry the timeline for regulations is
too short, Vancouver Councillor Kerry Jang thinks legalization can't
come soon enough.

Vancouver brought in a bylaw for medical marijuana dispensaries in
April, 2016, becoming the first municipality in Canada to regulate the
outlets.

Data from the city show 41 permits for medical marijuana-related
businesses have been issued since the bylaw came into effect and Mr.
Jang said he hasn't heard a single complaint about those businesses.

But illegal shops continue to operate, too. The city is asking the
court to shut down 53 businesses that are operating without permits
and bylaw officers continue to hand out tickets to another 65 shops
classified as "subject to enforcement."

The province needs to create rules that will help strengthen and
enforce the bylaw, but over all, it's been a success, Mr. Jang said.

"It means that good operators who sell pot in a responsible way can
continue to work and do business in the city of Vancouver and those
who don't gotta go."

He wants recreational pot to be sold at independent stores under
provincial regulations and said Vancouver's bylaw could be used as a
model across the province.

But Mr. Jang said it's also important for municipalities to tailor the
rules to fit their specific needs because each jurisdiction will have
its own concerns.

"No matter what we do, it's going to be a work in progress," he said.
"It's when the laws become static and don't match what we need to do,
conditions on the street, if you like, that this thing will not work
very well."

For Delta Mayor Lois Jackson, the concern is where marijuana will be
grown. Her suburban Vancouver community boasts some of the country's
best agricultural land. She said her staff have reported receiving
between five and 10 calls a day from people who are interested in
using that land to grow marijuana.

But the mayor doesn't want to see the valuable soil all used to grow
pot in the name of profit.

"I do not want Delta to be the pot growing capital of Canada," she
said. "I mean, we've got 22,000 acres of pretty great land that grows
things all year round. And if it's going to be allowed on all those
acres, well, I don't know if that's the direction we should be going."

Growing marijuana on agricultural land would likely mean big profit
for farmers, but it could also create big problems for food security
in the region, Ms. Jackson said.

Village Farms, which grows tomatoes in Delta, has announced plans to
convert one of its greenhouses for marijuana cultivation. The company
said in a release that cannabis is expected to be a "substantially
more profitable" crop.

Village Farms chief executive Michael DeGiglio said he knows some
politicians are against the move, but he doesn't think their
justification makes sense.

"It's an agricultural crop," he said in an interview. "I look at us as
farmers. We've always been farmers. … We're not the ones who made a
certain crop legal. We're just reacting as a business."

Ms. Jackson said she wants to see the provincial rules provide clarity
around where cannabis can be grown and would prefer to see the rules
favour warehouses over farmland when it comes to cultivation.

In other parts of the province, local leaders want municipalities to
have the power to decide where marijuana will be grown and sold based
on their specific needs.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt