The City of Vancouver has given the first green light to 11 out of 176 applicants seeking permits for medical marijuana-related businesses.
These businesses have not yet been issued permits but the city announced Monday (October 26) the successful applicants will be moved to the next phase of evaluation.
The process of regulating pot dispensaries in Vancouver has been contentious.
Outgoing federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose sent a letter to Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson in April, urging the city to scrap plans to regulate marijuana dispensaries.
The federal Liberals, however, campaigned on a promise to legalize recreational pot.
With the Grits’ majority victory last week, B.C. marijuana advocacy lawyer Kirk Tousaw told Business in Vancouver it will be easier for municipalities like Vancouver to regulate sales of storefront marijuana.
“Vancouver really foreshadowed a broader role for municipalities in the regulation of particularly the retail distribution of cannabis,” he said.
“Ultimately, I think it’s the municipalities that are going to have to regulate production of cannabis.”
The City of Vancouver requires all applicants must be at least 300 metres away from schools and community centres.
While city staff determined 41 applicants fulfilled that requirement, 30 of those businesses were not located a sufficient distance from one another.
The city said it would begin evaluating the businesses located in these “clusters” and the operator with the best score would be able to continue on with the next phase of permitting with the other 11 applicants.
The next phase of evaluation is expected to begin in early November and will allow for public input.
The remaining 135 businesses that did not meet zoning requirements will have six months to find an alternate location before the city plans to shut them down.
The city said businesses that did not apply before the August deadline must close immediately or be subject to fines and legal action.
Medical marijuana is already tightly regulated by Health Canada’s Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR).
The government agency has approved just 26 MMPR licences over the past two years after receiving more than 1,200 applications.
Tousaw said that for the municipal regulation of dispensaries to be successful, cities would have to work with multiple levels of government.
“If it’s not a criminal issue any longer, it’s hard to see the feds acting alone in regulatory policy. There’s got to be a role to play for the province, there’s got to be a role to play for municipalities and I think Vancouver’s already started down that path,” he said, adding federal plans to legalize recreational marijuana should not follow the model used for medical marijuana.
MMPR requires medical marijuana is delivered to patients through mail.
Tousaw said storefront sales should be allowed in both the recreational and medical cannabis industries if those businesses are expected to succeed.
“That is the way we sell products to people — particularly products people want to look at, smell, see and discuss with knowledgeable retailers.”
