This is one small step for Vancouver, one giant leap for Canada. The city will be the first in the country to try and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries.
Marijuana is still illegal in Canada. Both the provincial and federal government have been looking the other way when it comes to medical marijuana dispensaries which operate unlawfully. Vancouver, however, refuses to take this approach.
- This Is What Vancouver’s New Marijuana Vending Machine Looks Like
- Mega iLL: Vancouver’s First Marijuana Pizza Joint
According to the Vancouver Sun, since 2012, in which the federal government became slightly more lenient about how medical distributed and how patients can buy their prescriptions, 60 dispensaries opened up in Vancouver—20 just in the last four months. These businesses have thus far been unregulated. The city proposes to change this.
This is not an issue regarding legalization of weed, “We’re not getting into that argument. We are simply regulating an unregulated business, just as we would any other business,” said Kerry Jang, a city councilor.
There is a huge market in our city for this kind of business and the city has decided to face the demand head on by proposing a series of strict by-laws for business owners who operate medical marijuana dispensaries. For example, it will disallow the sale of edible marijuana products or oils. But you will still be able to buy it and bake it at home.
According to the Vancouver city website,
Key points under the proposed framework for marijuana-related businesses, include:
- 300 m distancing from schools, community centers and neighbourhood houses (existing practice is 1000 ft as established in Washington and Colorado states)
- 300 m distancing from other marijuana-related businesses (existing practice is 1000ft as established in WA and CO)
- Implement a licensing fee ($30,000) to recover costs from the significant burden across the City to manage and enforce new regulatory framework
- Operators must sign a Good Neighbour Agreement
- Operators require a Development Permit which would include a standard community notification process
- Geographic restrictions specific to unique areas in the city, limiting them to commercial areas
Applicants will be required to go through a three-stage review process, which includes a point-based evaluation criteria, in order to obtain a business license.
The proposed framework concludes, “The rapid growth of marijuana related businesses over the last few years presents a significant problem for the City…If, however, they are carefully managed and regulated, these businesses can play a role in ameliorating health conditions that affect numerous people.”
These regulations are still in the infancy stages. According to the National Post, neither the federal nor the provincial government have been consulted about this new proposal, “The city’s plan is sure to enrage the federal government, which in recent years has sought to more strictly control the flow of medicinal marijuana.” Forcing the regulation of these illegal business has brought a lot of attention from the federal and provincial government to the city. Ferderal Health Minister Rona Ambrose has written a letter to Mayor Gregor Robertson to voice her concerns regarding this pitch.
As Canadians, we have two choices. We can let these illegal businesses operate unregulated, allowing them a free-for-all, just to avoid patching up legal loopholes, or we simply admit that they are in a legal grey-area but still regulate and legitimize them to be able to restrict their business.
Written by: Sarine Gulerian
Photo Credit: Laurie Avocado
