Local pot laws up for debate

Marijuana may be sold only in full-service pharmacies in West Kelowna once the drug becomes legal this year.

City council on Tuesday was to consider Àne-tuning its pot-retailing bylaw to make it clear that privately owned, stand-alone pot shops will be not be permitted in West Kelowna.

So-called compassion clubs, in which the drug is provided to those with a medical prescription to use pot, would also be expressly prohibited. “These operations turn into full-Áedged dispensaries over time,” reads part of a municipal staff report to council.

Each municipality in the Central Okanagan is taking a different approach to the regulation and licensing of pot shops.

Kelowna will allow both governmentowned and privately owned stores, subject to restrictions on where the private shops can be located. Those proposed restrictions relate to such things as separation between pot shops, between pot shops and liquor stores, and pot shops and parks and schools. Peachland intends to ban ban all pot shops. Lake Country will allow private and public pot shops, and may or may not devise speciÀc rules such as minimum separation between such establishments.

The growing of pot for sale will continue to be a matter of federal oversight and regulation. There are already a number of federally licenced pot production facilities in the Central Okanagan.

Provincially, the NDP government will control the wholesale distribution of pot, but will allow the drug to be sold to customers through a mix of government-owned and privately owned stores.

But each municipality can use its land use powers to establish rules over such things as where pot shops can be located and their hours of operation. Municipalities can also simply ban pot shops.

The provincial government is hosting workshops for municipal ofÀcials relating to issues around pot shop licensing and regulation.

A public hearing on the proposed revisions to West Kelowna’s pot shop bylaw is scheduled for May 22.