Marijuana dispensaries outlawed in Penticton

City council votes against renewing temporary permits for 2 pot shops

After experimenting with marijuana dispensaries for seven months, Penticton city council voted Tuesday to ban the pot shops outright.

And the two dispensaries to which council granted now-expired temporary-use permits in December 2016 will be asked to convert to so-called “wellness centres” dealing only in information and smoking accessories, not bud.

The decision not to renew the permits was made by a 5-2 vote of council, with Max Picton and Tarik Sayeed in opposition.

Coun. Judy Sentes noted legalization of the drug seemed imminent when the TUPs were approved last year, but that changed this spring when the federal government announced a July 1, 2018, target date to legitimize recreational use of marijuana.

“The fact that it’s still illegal haunts me,” said Sentes.

“If the (federal) government would have come through, we would be having an entirely different discussion. The way that it is now, I think this is the only resolution we can do.”

Picton said the TUPs were meant as a trial program aimed at testing the community’s response to dispensaries and helping those with medical conditions get easier access to marijuana.

“I still feel that this serves a need in the community,” he said.

“I did not receive negative feedback from the community, either emails, phone calls of any kind, staff had not heard any negative feedback, so my view is that the temporary-use permits should be extended.”

Development services manager Anthony Haddad said the city’s lawyers will now work with the owners of the Green Essence and Okanagan Cannabinoid Therapy dispensaries to create court-approved consent orders limiting them to serving only as wellness centres.

He described such centres as “a storefront business that would provide information on accessing medical cannabis and lobby for marijuana legalization.

“The business could sell marijuana paraphernalia, including pipes, accessories and such, but could not actually sell cannabis,” continued Haddad, who expects the conversion will take several months.

The same offer will be extended to the Herbal Green dispensary, which was not granted a TUP and has subsequently engaged in legal action with the city.