14 Vancouver pot-dispensary firms pass zoning hurdle

VIANARCHRIS

VIANARCHRIS

Well-Known Member


File photo: Fourteen pot-dispensary businesses have been deemed to be in compliance with zoning rules, allowing them to apply for development permits, said Vancouver’s director of licensing and inspections Andreea Toma.
Photograph by: Jenelle Schneider , PNG

Out of the 176 applicants seeking to operate marijuana dispensaries under Vancouver’s new licensing regime, the city has weeded out 14 businesses to move one step closer for a licence.

Fourteen pot-dispensary businesses have been deemed to be in compliance with zoning rules, allowing them to apply for development permits, said Vancouver’s director of licensing and inspections Andreea Toma.

Those 14 have applied for permits, Toma said Monday, adding, “We’re thinking we may see the first development permit issued in the next couple of weeks.”

The next step, for any applicant who receives a permit, will be to apply for a business licence, Toma said, adding she believes the city’s first dispensary licences could be issued by the spring.

Of 176 applications submitted to the city last year (a total that includes both shops already operating, as well as prospective businesses), about 130 were rejected for being within 300 metres of schools or community centres, said Toma.

Around 60 or 70 of those have since applied to the board of variance seeking an exemption, she said, and those appeals will be heard starting in February.

Meanwhile, the issue of the buffer zone between schools and pot shops was on the agenda for Monday’s Vancouver School Board meeting.

VSB trustee Fraser Ballantyne said he wants to see the bylaw-mandated distance between schools and pot shops increased from the current 300 m to 500 m.

The agenda for Monday evening’s meeting included a motion from Ballantyne, which reads, in part: “The City of Vancouver’s amended bylaw for medical-marijuana-related businesses does not adequately address the after-school activities of youth in the community.”

He said Monday he wants to make sure kids aren’t “overexposed” to commercial pot businesses when they’re involved in after-school activities.

“We look after kids from nine to three, but as a trustee, I want to do my very best to continue to look after youth, in the sense we don’t want them to be bombarded with a hundred different dispensaries around the city,” he said. “I’m supportive of the legalization of (medical) marijuana, because there are a lot people out there suffering. But at the same time, we don’t want to necessarily overexpose our youth to the availability of marijuana.”

Ballantyne questioned the city’s approach to licensing retail marijuana dispensaries, especially now that the federal government has a stated plan to legalize and regulate pot.

“Why are they rushing things through when the federal government is going to have a whole framework?” Ballantyne asked. “I think we need to hit the pause button.”
 
CalyxCrusher

CalyxCrusher

Well-Known Member
doingdishes said:
and ecigs. another one blew up in a kids face. why do they sell them to kids?? where's that protection??
Click to expand...
Thats what happens when you use the wrong size battery for the size of coil. Lots of people "mod" these to get bigger hits. His own fault really. When we were 16 im sure some of us tried smoking. Its just that this generation has the attention span of a doorknob, and need tech for even the simplest things.
 
G

gb123

Well-Known Member
the fact they offer testing and so easily?? makes that a key point in most SHILL arguments!!! ;)
They're not awake yet ..:lol:
 
c ray

c ray

Well-Known Member
word on the street is last week the bcccs got hit with a bill for millions in back taxes
 
doingdishes

doingdishes

Well-Known Member
c ray said:
word on the street is last week the bcccs got hit with a bill for millions in back taxes
Click to expand...
they have it in their reserves so it was expected. my wife was involved in the case for their grower Gerry.
if they had won, they were going to use that $$ for patients so i think it's a damn shame.
if it wasn't so easy to get cards at other "clubs" then i think it may have gone a different way. they cited that it was like an over the counter medicine but you had to get a recommendation from a Dr...how is that "over the counter"??
i don't understand how these people in authority can't or don't see it. look at the recent movement from John Turmel's case. it seemed the judges "got it" but then turn around and show how they didn't. very weird how they go to their back rooms and loose common sense...or they prove that common sense doesn't belong in law
 
G

gb123

Well-Known Member
east and west coast it wouuld seem..8-)

Dartmouth’s new medical marijuana dispensary opens doors
A new medical marijuana dispensary has opened it’s doors in Dartmouth.

Monday was the first day of business for Tasty Budd’s Compassion Club Inc., a wellness clinic located at 958 Cole Harbour Rd. According to owner Mal McMeekin, the dispensary makes it a lot easier for patients with medical marijuana prescriptions to get their medicine.

“We’re providing patients with direct access,” he said in an interview. “The way the system is set up now, medical marijuana patients have to order their medicine online or over the phone. They don’t exactly know what they’re getting, and they have to wait for it. But here, patients can touch, feel and smell our products and make sure it’s right for them. We’ve got indicas, sativas, mixes, edibles and oils.”

According to Health Canada regulations, medical marijuana patients can only purchase their weed from a federally licenced grower. But there are only 27 licenced growers in Canada today, and none of them are located in Nova Scotia.

McMeekin said Tasty Budd’s operates in a “legal grey area,” just like hundreds of other dispensaries across the country.

“We’re going through all the steps that we can to make this as legal as possible,” he said. “We only sell to medical patients with legitimate prescriptions from doctors, and of course nobody underage.”

The grey area refers to where the marijuana at Tasty Budd’s actually comes from. Joel Samson, a cancer survivor who’s been using medical marijuana for seven years, said dispensaries like Tasty Budd’s usually buy from growers who previously held personal medical marijuana production licenses.

But personal growing licences have been void since March 2014, when the new medical marijuana regulations came into effect.

“Technically speaking, dispensaries aren’t allowed to sell marijuana to patients,” said Samson, who stopped by Tasty Budd’s Monday. “But the reason it’s a grey area, and the reason more and more places like this are popping up around Canada, is because they fill a void in the system. The Supreme Court has said there needs to be reasonable access to medical marijuana for patients, but the current system just doesn’t provide that.”

Samson said dispensaries like Tasty Budd’s allow patients like him to “take charge of their health.”

“It’s really important for people who need medical marijuana to have a place where they can access their medicine safely,” he said. “In most cases, patients can’t wait four or five days for their medicine to arrive in the mail. Professional places like this just make everything so much easier.”

McMeekin said Tasty Budd’s only offers top-quality herb from “trusted” sources in the area. The various strains cost between $5.50 and $9.50 per gram.

“We’re trying to make sure we have the resources to help out every patient who comes in here,” he said. “We’re also hoping laws will be drafted that allow all patients to access our services legally. As long as we do what we’re supposed to be doing and only sell to legitimate patients who need it, we should be okay.”

He also said he’s prepared to face the legal consequences of opening a dispensary, should it come to that. Farm Assist Cannabis Resource Centre, a Halifax business very similar to Tasty Budd’s, was raided by police in December and the owner is facing a number of drug-related charges.

“We’re ready to fight the fight,” said McMeekin. “Before we opened we spoke to lawyers, police and government officials, and nobody has really opposed the business so far. We’re here to help people, and as long as everyone can see that, hopefully we won’t have any problems.”

Cst. Mark Skinner, a spokesman for Nova Scotia RCMP, said police will only take action if Tasty Budd’s violates any existing legislation.

“The RCMP works within the existing legislation under the Controlled Drugs & Substances Act. If we determine there’s a violation of the legislation, we will take appropriate action.”
 
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