Many Vancouver pot shops still open as deadline to close unlicensed stores passes

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Many unlicensed pot shops remain open in Vancouver – despite an end-of-January deadline issued by the BC Supreme Court.

Last month, the court ruled shops without permits had to close by January 31, or face fines or jail time.

The City of Vancouver is seeking a crack down on the dozens of shops operating illegally. Only two shops have the required licences to stay open.

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Dana Larsen with Sensible BC is hoping another court ruling will prevent any drastic moves against the shops from happening right away.

“We’ve launched an appeal to the BC Court of Appeal and we’ve also asked them for a stay on the injunctions,” he says.

The court has until February 8 to deliver a decision. “It’s quite possible that if we get a good ruling that things will be held off and go into limbo until the next level of court decisions.”

Part of the reason for the appeal is the question over whether access to medical marijuana should be loosened.

“Legalization has ironically made it harder for medical users to get access,” Larsen says. He points out once a shop does get its permits, it cannot sell medicinal cannabis extracts, edibles and ointments. Legislation governing the sale of those products is expected to be introduced later this year.

“If you want to become a medical user, you’ve got to go to your doctor. They’ve got to sign off on your medical use. You have to renew that every year. It’s not a prescription, so lots of doctors will charge hundreds of dollars to get that paperwork done,” he explains.

“Then you are restricted to buying from one licenced producer. You’ve got to wait until it arrives in the mail. If that producer doesn’t have the strains you’re looking for, you’re out of luck.”

In the meantime, he has helped organize a campaign and a rally to get the city to change some of its pot shop bylaws.

The Save Vancouver’s Dispensaries campaign is calling on the city to ease its distance requirements for shops. Right now, shops cannot be closer than 300 metres to schools and youth centres. Larsen says dispensaries should be treated like liquor stores, which are required to be only 150 metres from schools.

Larsen, who operates two pot shops in Vancouver, says the ban on dispensaries in industrial zones is pointless.

“Our East Vancouver location is in a zone for industrial use. So although we’ve been there for ten years, and we have a lot of community support, the city says dispensaries in the industrialized zones are entirely forbidden.”

A rally is scheduled at Vancouver City Hall from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday.