If city council decides to regulate the growing number of marijuana dispensaries in Vancouver, that will mean an end to all marijuana goods sold in pot shops.
So no more cookies, brownies, butter or ice cream.
And Don Briere, who co-owns more than a dozen Weeds Glass and Gifts pot shops, is perfectly fine with dumping what are commonly referred to in the industry as edibles from his inventory.
At least for now.
“There’s amateurs out there and they’re not consistent and they don’t know what they’re doing,” he said of the variety of homemade goods available for sale in pot shops. “It’s like people who make backyard gin, people can go blind drinking it.They didn’t do it intentionally, but it can happen.”
Briere said his hope is council will first regulate the pot shops, which total more than 80 in Vancouver. Once regulations bring some stability to the businesses, he said, operators can then approach the city to set an industry standard for the making and selling of edibles.
“Then we can have a consistent product,” said Briere, who spoke to the Courier the week after police raided one of his pot shops at 2916 West Fourth Ave.
Police said a 15-year-old was hospitalized after allegedly purchasing edible products from the store. Other “events involving young people” were also reasons for executing a search warrant, according to a news release issued by the Vancouver Police Department.
Briere said his staff member did not sell to the teen and doesn’t know how he obtained the product. He said none of his stores sell to minors, although he surmised an adult could have bought the product for the boy.
“If it was a client that did that, then they should be charged and we will ban that person from our stores forever,” he said, noting the store re-opened about 48 hours later. “But it’s all hearsay and there were no charges.”
Customers and staff from the store were identified and released pending further investigation, which could end in charges, according to police.
Briere said his products, including muffins, cookies, coconut butter and ice cream are made by various suppliers. He didn’t elaborate on where the products are made, although he said some suppliers have commercial kitchens.
Briere’s hope for an industry standard for edibles isn’t a regulation the City of Vancouver is proposing in its attempt to bring some level of control to the pot shops.
The proposal, which includes a $30,000 annual licence fee for pot shops and criminal record checks, recommends only marijuana oil be available for sale. The rationale is a purchaser can take the oil home and make their own marijuana-infused goods.
The proposal is expected to go to public hearing by the end of the month or into early June, although the city hasn’t released dates for what are expected to be well-attended meetings.
Dr. Patricia Daly, chief medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal Health, said she supports the city’s proposal to regulate the pot shops and stop the sale of marijuana goods.
Daly is collecting data and research on edible products that she will forward to city council before the public hearing begins. So far, she said, her findings are that marijuana goods in the United States have been associated with the poisoning of children and other associated harms.
“Part of the issue is that these products are designed to look like other food items like candy and cookies that appeal to children,” she said. “So they’re inadvertently consumed.”
Daly pointed out that more than 60 people were hospitalized after the 420 marijuana smoke-in outside the Vancouver Art Gallery on April 20. Patients, some of whom ate marijuana goods, complained of nausea, vomiting, heart palpitations and a decreased level of consciousness.
“I know that the people who produce these products want to keep having these products available,” she said. “There are people who prefer to buy marijuana in an edible form but we have to consider what the potential risks might be of those products.”
Daly said the health authority has no plans to implement regulations that would force pot shops to label their marijuana goods, or have inspectors monitor food preparation practices.
“I’m not suggesting that we want them all to have food permits and we’d be happy with that,” she said. “My bigger concern is edible marijuana seems to be associated with risks that we need to be aware of.”
Daly noted that after she spoke to council last month, “a few of the producers of edible products weren’t very happy with me for saying that we’re concerned about this. So I think it’s something that will generate a lot of discussion at the public hearing.”
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