Pot shop owners prepare for consequences as they defy order to close
Posted April 30, 2016 10:36 am.
Last Updated May 2, 2016 1:25 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Many pot shop owners are defying yesterday’s municipal deadline to shut down – instead taking their chances. The city can now legally order marijuana dispensaries to pay up if operators refuse to close.
BC Pain Society owner Chuck Varabioff says he has no problem paying a daily fine as long as it is reasonable. “I honestly expect Monday or Tuesday for the bylaw enforcement person to come in and I would expect between a $200 and $500 a day fine.”
“I think if it is reasonable some dispensaries will pay it. I think others will say absolutely not and they will just fight back as much as they can and not pay any fine and that is when I think the city may start pushing back even further.”
Letters will be sent to those who choose to defy the order as a warning before other legal action is taken. Only about a dozen or so of the existing marijuana dispensaries have been given approval from the city.
Vancouver brought in regulations for pot shops last summer, including they be 300 metres away from schools, community centres and each other. A second intake of medical marijuana-related businesses in Vancouver is scheduled to take place sometime this year.
There are an estimated 350 pot dispensaries across Canada right now
Former president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis, Jamie Shaw, admits not everyone is using the stores for traditional medical reasons. “For example, some people are using cannabis to get off of alcohol which wouldn’t normally be considered a medical use but not exactly recreational either, so I think you see a wide range right now.”
Shaw notes cities were warned for several years that this explosion would happen. “If you are not addressing the underlying need, you are going to keep having dispensaries open. If you keep closing dispensaries, other ones will open and the number keeps growing until you get some kind of regulatory system in place.”
She believes the answer is to standardize both the quality of the product and the criteria for clients.
