Some of B.C.’s high-profile marijuana advocates sent a strong and consistent message to city council Wednesday night that it must make significant changes to a set of proposed rules to regulate pot shops before adopting legislation.
Though many of the 17 speakers on the first night of a public hearing commended city staff for the proposal, they argued that a $30,000 annual licensing fee was too expensive, that restricting pot shops within 300 metres of each other is unfair and banning marijuana-laced goods for sale would create an unregulated market for “edibles” such as cookies and brownies.
“I just beg you to always keep the critically and chronically ill patients in mind,” said Hilary Black, founder of the 18-year-old B.C. Compassion Club Society on Commercial Drive, where the business also operates a “wellness centre” that subsidized more than 3,300 health care appointments last year. “For 18 years, that organization has been serving some of the most marginalized and impoverished members of our community.”
Black was one of more than 160 people registered to speak at the hearing, which was called to hear the public’s views on an unprecedented proposal brought forward by a Canadian municipality to regulate more than 90 pot shops in Vancouver.
Connor Fesenmaier, 18, of Smarter Approaches to Marijuana Canada was the lone speaker Wednesday to call for an end to the hearing, saying the non-profit organization boycotted sending any more members to oppose the proposal.
“These hearings should not be taking place,” Fesenmaier said. “The federal government has made it abundantly clear that these dispensaries are illegal operations and it remains an open question as to whether or not civic servants or employees can be charged for conspiring to violate federal laws.”
Federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose has publicly expressed her disappointment with the city’s proposal, saying the pot shops are illegal and will remain illegal under a Conservative government and should be closed by police.
Dana Larsen of Sensible B.C. said the proposed rules that recommend pot shops can’t operate within 300 metres of each other or a school or community centre — or within certain areas of the Downtown Eastside — will possibly mean he’ll have to close one or both of his dispensaries, which are located on East Hastings and at Thurlow and Davie.While city staff estimate a maximum of 94 pot shops could operate under new legislation, Larsen’s analysis is that the rules would only allow 40 to 50 shops.
Despite's the city's recommendation to ban anyone under 19 from entering a dispensary, he said minors should be allowed to visit a pot shop in the company of an adult or guardian.
“In many cases, a mother might have a young infant or a child and having to find babysitting or leave that kid somewhere else while they pop into a dispensary to get their medicine just seems overly restrictive,” said Larsen, who also argued against precluding operators with criminal records to be granted a business licence. “Certainly someone who’s got a conviction for marijuana possession or even for marijuana trafficking, I don’t really see why that should limit them from operating a dispensary. If anything, it means they’ve got experience in the industry and understand it better.”
Lawyer Kirk Tousaw, who recently brought a case before the Supreme Court of Canada arguing for a person’s right to access goods infused with marijuana, told council that restricting sales to only marijuana oil would create a black market for edible cannabis goods manufactured by unregulated suppliers.
“It will increase harm rather than decrease harm,” Tousaw said. “Food safe requirements, labelling and child-proof containers promote health. The proposal to ban edible products other than cooking oils will not deal with those purported goals. In fact, it is likely to cause the opposite results.”
(The Supreme Court of Canada released a decision Thursday morning saying that edibles and other cannabis-infused products such as tea can legally be consumed. It's not known what effect the ruling will have on the city's proposed regulations.)
Dr. Patricia Daly, chief medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal Health, has previously stated her support for the regulations, saying a ban on edibles is related to the growing evidence of the harm of such products, particularly in the states in America that have legalized marijuana.
“Even putting these in child-resistant containers in the U.S. has not been a deterrent for poisinings,” Daly told council.
In a presentation to begin the hearings, city manager Penny Ballem provided council with new information on the proposal, including statistics that showed 18,383 British Columbians are authorized to possess marijuana for medical purposes. That’s in comparison to 19,501 patients in the rest of Canada.
B.C. also leads the way in number of marijuana plants allowed to be grown for medicinal purposes at 2,073, 285, compared to 899,489 in other parts of the country.
“So we constitute 70 per cent of the medicinal production by number of plants and 50 per cent of the authorized users,” said Ballem, who also outlined criteria for a potential operator to obtain a business licence, which includes reviewing an applicant’s previous business practices.
So far, Ballem added, the feedback from the public on the proposal is that “some people think we’re too strict, and some people’s input is that we’re too lenient.” If council agrees to the proposal, estimated start-up costs to implement the legislation in the first year is $1.4 million.
The hearing resumes Thursday night at 6 p.m. and will likely continue on Saturday.
@Howellings
