Too few pot shops are waiting in the weeds

When it comes to Canadian cannabis, the grass has always been greener in this province, the land of legendary B.C. bud.

No one knows for sure how big the illegal B.C. weed market is, but some experts figure it’s even bigger than forestry, making marijuana our No. 1 cash crop. So why are we getting smoked by other provinces as the clock ticks down on legalization day Wednesday?

B.C. is opening just one legal pot shop this week and it’s nothing but a tokin’ — um, token — gesture at that. There’s enough demand out there to open dozens of stores, something the opposition Liberals pointed out Monday.

“In Alberta, 17 stores will open on Wednesday, 100 by the end of October and 250 stores within the first year,” said Liberal MLA Shirley Bond. “B.C. lags behind many other jurisdictions.”

Solicitor General Mike Farnworth, the NDP government’s point man on pot, had a bemused look on his face as the Liberals ripped him for not opening enough pot shops. It was former Liberal leader Christy Clark, after all, who once (wrongly) said B.C. pot was laced with deadly fentanyl and refused to state a policy position on marijuana because it was federal jurisdiction.

“I must admit I’m quite fascinated by the sudden desire to suddenly have all these stores open,” he said over the Liberals’ heckles.

Farnworth repeated his usual talking points that the government wasn’t prepared to open marijuana stores without the consent of municipal governments. And that’s where the timing of this week’s local elections really threw a wrench into the weed works.

“We are in the midst of local government elections,” Farnworth said. “And local governments have made it very clear: They want to deal with those applications (for marijuana stores) after the elections. And that’s exactly what is going to happen.”

Left unsaid by the marijuana minister was the fact that the government didn’t want to jeopardize the election chances of NDP-leaning local politicians with any divisive pot-shop debates during their campaigns.

As the go-slow approach continued, meanwhile, Farnworth issued his toughest comments to date about illegal marijuana dispensaries that continue to operate after Wednesday. Many of the illegal pot shops — located mainly in Vancouver and Victoria — want to become legal businesses. Farnworth had some advice for illegal pot pedlars who want to go straight: Shut down your stores as your licence application is processed.

“A number of them have already shut down,” he said. “I think that’s the right thing to do.”

What about illegal dispensaries that stay open? Farnworth said the government will shut them down. Eventually.

Defiant illegal stores will likely get a temporary reprieve. But when legal stores finally start to open, the hammer will come down on them.