Pot rules a work in progress
The Canadian Press - Oct 18, 2017 - BC Biz

Photo: The Canadian Press

The looming deadline for legalized marijuana has local governments in B.C. 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 Coun. 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 shows 41 permits for medical marijuana-related businesses have been issued since the bylaw came into effect and 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 overall it’s been a success, 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 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 per 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.”


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