POT POP-UP OPEN NON-STOP
Operators of street-corner cannabis stand near the PNE vow defiance
“We’re here, we’re high and we aren’t going away.”
With those words, pot-purveyor Bruce Myers explains the sudden emergence of a marijuana dispensary operating like an old-fashioned fruit stand on the southeast corner of Renfrew and Hastings streets in East Vancouver.
Myers, 55, of Surrey said the popup pot tent and table complete with scales, bongs, pipes, grinders, papers and blowtorches was first moved onto the City of Vancouver-owned property in August to coincide with the PNE. They plan on keeping the stand running 24-7 right through until the Fright Night Halloween attraction is over across the street at the PNE.
That won’t go over too well with the neighbours, most of whom said Tuesday that they’re stunned the city or police haven’t moved to shut it down.
“This is the third time they’ve been there and I think it’s nonsense,” said Ray Wesley, who lives several blocks away from the stand. “I just wonder why the police aren’t getting them out of there. People are completely dumbfounded.”
Others walking by Tuesday said much the same thing, noting there are several schools nearby. One woman said that walking by with her two small kids getting pot blown in their faces “is not appropriate.”
Jennie Hogan, who lives a block-and-a-half-away in the 2800-block Pender with her family, including a 13-year-old daughter and a 10-yearold son, said she’s shocked by the situation, adding “it takes away from our safe, community feel.”
“We’re not happy with this whatsoever. It’s not positive to have pot plants at the corner of our street (and) our kids walk by that corner every day going to school. I don’t know how they’re pulling it off. Why aren’t they just shut down?”
However, nearby resident Stewart Cook, who was smoking a joint about a block from the stand as his partner Zoe and infant daughter sat beside him, said he’s happy with the stand.
“I smoke weed,” said Cook. “It helped me recover from alcohol.”
Myers likens the pop-up dispensary to the summertime fruit and vegetable stand that opens up for a day or two. In the parking lot, Myers and his rag-tag group of pot sellers and pro-marijuana activists run a generator to provide power so they can play music and keep the stand open non-stop. A small camper van is parked behind the stand and Myers said they sleep in it to get some rest as they rotate staff to meet the steady demand.
Since the tent and tables can be packed up and moved in a matter of minutes, Myers said they don’t have any paperwork to be their legally. “The city as far as I’m concerned can shove it, because they have no right to bother us,” he said. “It is our constitutional right to be here.”
According to Myers, they’re not selling pot, just asking for donations when they make a transaction. Besides pot, they offer shatter, hash and edibles.
“We ask for donations because selling is illegal,” Myers insists.
He claims to have a Health Canada licence that allows him to deal and grow cannabis products. “We can grow and sell to anybody,” he said. “The police will stand by me and let us do what we want to do here. We are allowed to have a peaceful assembly.”
So far, Myers said no one from the neighbourhood has complained. “We don’t sell to kids, only adults,” he said.
Once Fright Night ends after Halloween, the pot stand will be moved to another high-traffic area, Myers said.
David Hill is a partner in the popup stand. “The neighbours really like me,” he said. “I am one of the best growers you will ever meet. I have been respectful here.”
The Hasting Community Association’s Sherry Breshears said that through a deal with the park board they run the parking lot that is the site of the pop-up stand. The money they get from the lot helps cover the cost of running the Hastings Community Centre. They’re getting nothing from the pot stand for use of the lot.
She said she had raised their concerns about the pot stand with the park board when the PNE was on. “I will bring it to their attention again and someone will deal with it.”
Vancouver police spokesman Sgt. Brian Montague said any shops selling marijuana aren’t legal, regardless of where they’re operating or whether they have a business licence from the city. “The VPD is aware of all the shops in the city, but with heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl issues, we must use our resources on a priority-based response to drug offences in Vancouver,” Montague said.
Vancouver Coun. Melissa De Genova is the NPA marijuana critic. She said a pop-up pot stand flies in the face of those who have gone out and got the proper approval. “I think Vision Vancouver has made a mess of this and unfortunately it is the people who have followed the rules in the process that will get hurt,” she said.
B.C. Civil Liberties Association policy director Micheal Vonn said those behind the pop-up pot stand may have an argument as they’re on public land. “It is not completely crazy what they are saying,” she said. “What constitutes free speech can be very broad.”