A warning to rogue pot shops
City officials expect crackdown when cannabis legalized
Dozens of rogue cannabis shops — collectively responsible for more than $2 million in unpaid violation tickets issued by the City of Vancouver, according to new city data — will have a harder time operating after legalization comes into effect this fall, senior city officials said Wednesday.
This week, Vancouver moved to align its retail cannabis sales regime, the first of its kind in the country, with the provincial and federal regulatory frameworks as Canada prepares to become the first G7 nation to legalize recreational cannabis.
Meanwhile, the B.C. government is seeking to hire a director to lead a new cannabis enforcement unit, expected to be staffed and running by the time federal legalization of recreational cannabis comes into effect Oct. 17.
The retail cannabis regime pioneered in Vancouver will transition well into Canada’s new legalization framework, said Kaye Krishna, the city’s general manager of development, buildings and licensing.
“Vancouver has been seen as a leader in this. A lot of different (Canadian) cities, as well as the other two levels of government, have come to us and asked us what’s worked, what hasn’t worked, what would we change,” Krishna said Wednesday after Vancouver city council approved a zoning bylaw amendment the night before, replacing the designation of “medical marijuana related use” with “cannabis store.”
But although Vancouver’s regulatory system may allow participating retailers to transition into the post-legalization world, the city has many rogue businesses operating outside the system.
Vancouver has issued 53 injunctions against illegal dispensaries that are non-compliant with city regulations. A test case has been set for a three-week hearing beginning Sept. 4, in which the B.C. Supreme Court will decide the fate of those dispensaries. On Wednesday, Krishna called it a “precedent-setting court case.”
Vancouver has 46 dispensaries or compassion clubs with city-issued development permits, but another 75 are operating outside the licensing regime, according to data provided by the city. The city has been issuing tickets weekly to those rogue shops, but as of Wednesday, out of 3,324 tickets worth $2.5 million issued since May 2016, only 374 tickets have been paid.
Krishna said it will be harder for those scofflaws to remain in business after October.
B.C.’s Ministry of the Solicitor General has interviewed candidates for the new position of director of cannabis control, responsible for administrative enforcement of illegal cannabis sales outside the licensed realm. Provincial “cannabis enforcement officers” working under the director will be able to enter illegal cannabis retailers without a warrant and seize illegal product and records.
However, unlicensed retailers “won’t be shut down overnight,” according to a statement Wednesday from the Ministry of the Solicitor General, but as more legal pot retailers open up across B.C., “enforcement activity will ramp up against illegal dispensaries.”