The City of Vancouver has 22 inspectors who could be on the job this weekend to hand out $250 tickets to potentially dozens of illegal marijuana dispensary operators who refuse to close their doors.
But the staff person overseeing the enforcement of the pot shops isn’t saying whether all inspectors will be working or whether all shops will be ticketed this weekend.
“I’m not saying that all 22 will be out there,” Andreea Toma, the city’s chief licensing inspector, told the Courier Friday. “Saturday is for us to get a better understanding of how people are choosing to react. I’m hoping that the industry will respond in a positive way. I still think that some will – I really do.”
The city has not provided an exact count of how many shops could be targeted for not closing their doors April 29. That’s because of the 176 applications it received last year for a business licence, the city never determined how many of the 140 it rejected were from existing operators or new applicants.
Adding to the complexity is 62 rejected pot shop operators appealed their cases to the Board of Variance, which is scheduled to hear arguments into November.
The city is also conducting a “de-clustering process” where pot shops located in close proximity to each other have to argue why they’re more suitable to remain in their location.
What’s clear is about 100 illegal dispensaries were operating in Vancouver prior to city council approving a business licensing scheme in June 2015.
To begin the licensing process, the city gave rejected applicants a six-month grace period to find a new location. Applicants were rejected because they wanted to set up in a prohibited zone or they were found to be within 300 metres of a school or another pot shop. That six months expired Friday, April 29.
Rej Houle, manager director of the co-op that operates Budzilla Cannabis Edibles and Butters at 2267 Kingsway, was among the shops told to shut down. Houle, who said he plans to continue operating, joined about 30 marijuana advocates Friday outside city hall to protest the city’s regulations.
“There are a lot of issues that need to be revisited that are broken and don’t make sense,” he said, pointing to the 300-metre rule as an example. “I’ve put my whole life savings into this. If I go out of business, it’s over for me.”
Houle said his shop lost out in one of the city’s de-clustering processes, where his proximity to another dispensary, school or community centre led to a review of past business practices and run-ins with police.
He said about 20 police officers raided his shop in September 2014 while he was baking marijuana-infused cookies. He said police accused him of being a drug dealer but he told them he operated a nonprofit business that provides medicinal cannabis for people with illnesses. He still hasn’t gone to court.
“The next step for us is to take on fines and hopefully the city will get an injunction going and then we can have a fair chance to defend ourselves [in court] and explain exactly where we stand, and have an honest chance to exist,” he said.
Ticketing, prosecution and possibly seeking injunctions are tools the city could use in enforcing the new regulations. Police would only be involved if they are called to keep the peace, or decide to launch criminal investigations.
The April 29 deadline was imposed as part of the city’s new regulations to give business licences to dispensaries that meet stringent criteria, including staff undergoing criminal record checks. The process to get a licence is complicated, involving various reviews, having a shop meet building codes and collecting feedback from neighbours on a shop’s location.
Houle is among more than 60 pot shop operators who appealed to the Board of Variance to remain open. Even though his hearing is scheduled for October, he said the city still wants him to shut down April 29, even though he noted he has a letter from the city saying he doesn’t have to close until July 16.
“That’s the thing that’s even more confusing because we’ve never actually gotten an official documentation saying that today was some kind of a cut-off date,” he said. “It’s really bizarre.”
mhowell@vancourier.com
@Howellings
