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Vancouver Dispensaries Shutting Down.

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Buddha1

Member
Veteran
Just curious as to how many dispensaries are shutting there doors in the greater Vancouver area and the Fraser Valley, in the province of BC.

If you know positively a dispensary is closing on or before legalization day Oct. 17, 2018...post it here and let us know, so we can get a sorta tally on them and what is happening out there.

And if you know positively a dispensary is planning on remaining open...then also let us know that.

Just curious as to the fall out of legalization day.

Peace...B
 
B

Buddha1

Member
Veteran
Future uncertain for long-standing Vancouver pot shops after legalization

Laura Kane,




The Canadian Press

Published Thursday, October 4, 2018 6:54AM EDT

A vendor displays marijuana for sale during the 4-20 annual marijuana celebration, in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday April 20, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VANCOUVER -- Cannabis connoisseurs in Vancouver have been able to buy potent weed over the counter for years -- but ironically, that could change when marijuana becomes legal.

None of the long-standing pot shops in the city have received provincial licences to operate, with only two weeks left until legalization.

Jessika Villano, owner of Buddha Barn Craft Cannabis, said she applied for a licence one week after the application portal opened in August and doesn't expect approval before Oct. 17.

"Of course, everybody's nervous," she said, adding she's hopeful she'll receive a licence eventually.

"We're doing everything that we can to comply with all three levels of government. We're still nervous. We still haven't received that golden ticket."

Vancouver became a haven for illegal pot shops after the city -- in an effort to ensure access for medical marijuana patients -- decided not to police the stores unless there were public safety concerns, such as gang affiliations or sales to minors.

By 2015, more than 100 dispensaries had sprung up, prompting council to pass a bylaw requiring shops to obtain a development permit, a $30,000 business licence and obey location rules. So called compassion clubs -- non-profits that provide medical pot to patients in need -- paid only $1,000 for a licence.

The business licence scheme didn't change the fact that selling cannabis across the counter was illegal in Canada.

It did, however, allow the city to keep track of stores and issue tickets to those that flouted its rules, with limited success.

Today, there are 19 pot shops operating with a municipal business licence in Vancouver, including four compassion clubs, while 53 locations hold a development permit. Dozens of others have flouted the bylaw, prompting the city to launch a court case in which a decision has not yet been issued.

Regardless, the entire system changes on Oct. 17 and -- if the law is enforced -- Vancouver could go from being Canada's most pot-friendly city to one of its least.

In July, the city updated its bylaw to align with legalization. Any dispensary with a previously issued business or compassion club licence must apply for a provincial retail licence and a new municipal business licence.

As part of the process to obtain a provincial licence, B.C. forwards the application to the city for recommendation of approval. Once the provincial licence is granted, the city contacts the operator to apply for a new municipal business licence.

"To date, the city has received four applications from the province," said chief licence inspector Kathryn Holm. "To date, no operator in Vancouver has been issued a provincial or municipal cannabis business licence to operate legally as of Oct. 17."

British Columbia has said the only government-run cannabis store ready on Oct. 17 will be in Kamloops. There will also be an online store. But it's unclear whether any private brick-and-mortar stores will be approved by that date.

A spokesman for the Attorney General's office refused to say how many applications had been forwarded to cities for approval, citing "private business information" between applicants and the province.

Some Vancouver dispensaries plan to stay open regardless of whether their provincial licence applications are approved.

Don Briere, owner of four Weeds Glass and Gifts stores, said his customers include cancer patients and people with severe pain. Closing his doors would force them onto opioids or into the black market, he said.

"Can you imagine the airport -- you would be parking planes on the freeway -- and the lines to get into Kamloops ... if every person who consumed cannabis had to go to Kamloops?"

All the existing pot shops in Vancouver are ostensibly medical cannabis dispensaries. While some require proof of a health condition, others, including Briere's stores, sell to any adult who wants weed for any reason.

The province has only created a non-medical retail licence, requiring genuine medical dispensaries to become recreational retailers if they want to survive. Compassion clubs that previously paid $1,000 for a city licence won't be allowed to sell pot unless they obtain a provincial licence and a $30,000 municipal business licence.

Villano's store used to be called Buddha Barn Medicinal Society but is rebranding as Buddha Barn Craft Cannabis to comply with provincial rules that don't allow retailers to use medical language.

She's also trying to sell off all her organic, lab-tested marijuana flower from local cannabis growers, which won't be included in the provincial supply chain. One of her products is specifically created for cancer patients.

"It's not a fun cannabis to use. It's definitely therapeutic. We won't be able to put that on our shelves through this next little while," she said. "That part's a bit scary for people who are fighting for their lives."

Whether unlicensed pot shops in Vancouver shut their doors will largely depend on enforcement, which will be a provincial responsibility.

"Unlicensed retailers may not be shut down overnight," the Public Safety Ministry said in a statement. "The province anticipates many illegal dispensaries will voluntarily come into compliance with the law by obtaining a retail licence, or shutting down."

It said it's setting up a new unit that has the power to enter illegal cannabis premises without a warrant, seize illegal products and records, and impose fines.

Illegal stores could face provincial and federal charges, it added. Those convicted of the provincial offence of illegally selling cannabis will face fines of up to $100,000 and up to 12 months imprisonment.



Here is a link to full article:
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/beta.ctvnews.ca/content/ctvnews/en/national/business/2018/10/4/1_4120866.html


With last paragraph in this article stating that the province is setting up a special task force that can enter any dispencies without a warrant to seize products, paper work and files and levy fines or charges...The writing is pretty much on the wall.

Dispensary's shut down voluntarily by midnight Oct. 16, 2018 and pursue legal licensing and permits or they will be shut down by the police.

So there's the answer...Dispencies are a thing of the past, all have to close their doors and shut down or face criminal action from RCMP.

Peace...Buddha.
 
Klompen

Klompen

Active member
Wow, here in The States, we've mostly just been hearing it was being legalized, but it really sounds like the legalization process is a chaotic mess. Its shameful that it isn't just being freed up from government control like it should be. I was really hoping Canada would be leading the way on this issue. So far though, it seems like no place is really coming close to doing what Colorado has done(legalizing by constitutional amendment). I'm starting to really think that we're going to have to wait for the Nixon-era generation to die off before we have any shot at widespread sanity on the issue of cannabis legalization.
 
A

axle2u

Member
no does this also include online dispensaries...?
curious...


and if not, how do they remain open,
when the po-po is systematically shutting down actual store fronts...??


axle robot
 
fatigues

fatigues

Active member
Veteran
Klompen said:
Its shameful that it isn't just being freed up from government control like it should be.
Click to expand...

The Liberal's election platform was not "Legalize it." That's the part the cannabis activists heard because they chose to hear only that part.

The platform, in fact, was "Legalize. Regulate. Restrict." That was the Liberal Party's mantra before they were elected and it remains that way now.

If anybody is expecting Canada's governments to be "involved" by letting something become unregulated, they are smoking stuff much stronger than cannabis. That's not the Canadian way.

Colorado is the land of rugged individualism. That does not describe Canada. Never has. Not even close.
 
fatigues

fatigues

Active member
Veteran
axle2u said:
no does this also include online dispensaries...?
Click to expand...

The MoMs have not been shut down yet. When that will happen remains unknown. But most people are expecting it. It's not that hard to do, given their systemic use of Interac and the banks. That makes it pretty easy, actually. It merely takes some effort and political will. They can get the bank information via cookie-cutter affidavits using the same buy/bust approach for all of them. So that makes it cost-effective in terms of police efforts.

Given the price competition the MoMs place on capturing the largest consumers in the marketplace, the crackdown is coming sometime in the next year. But when, exactly? Nobody knows except the police.

It will get ugly though; very ugly.

The one battle where I have no idea how it will shake down is with dispensaries on First Nations Reserves.

The legal right of the provincial governments to regulate business on a First Nations Reserve is in doubt. Some of the Natives' legal arguments may well even prevail in court. In addition, unlike the tools the police and municipal authorities have to deal with store-front dispensaries and MoMs, they can't use those tools against the Natives. You cannot seize native land. You can't just put police tape up over a pot shop located on a Reserve and call it "done". You cannot get a court order to seize real property on Native land. No government can do it.

And that's before we deal with the reality that there is a real chance that those on Mohawk Lands may gather by the hundreds to oppose the police. With weapons. And then it's Oka all over again, writ large.

My bet is that, at the end of the day, the hassle won't be worth it. They let the natives get away with black market cigarettes, and they'll let them get away with pot shops, too. There is no appetite for that fight by those in power.
 
Klompen

Klompen

Active member
Oh what a strange world we live in where the natives have to save the White Man from his own bureaucracy....
 
tobedetermined

tobedetermined

Well-known member
Premium user
ICMag Donor
fatigues said:
given their systemic use of Interac and the banks.
Click to expand...

According to an acquaintance who works in the investment industry, the banks have been monitoring Interac transfers as part of their money-laundering detection. They will automatically close any suspect accounts. This can include MOM accounts & potentially their large customers.

tbd
 
B

Buddha1

Member
Veteran
fatigues said:
The MoMs have not been shut down yet. When that will happen remains unknown. But most people are expecting it. It's not that hard to do, given their systemic use of Interac and the banks. That makes it pretty easy, actually. It merely takes some effort and political will. They can get the bank information via cookie-cutter affidavits using the same buy/bust approach for all of them. So that makes it cost-effective in terms of police efforts.

Given the price competition the MoMs place on capturing the largest consumers in the marketplace, the crackdown is coming sometime in the next year. But when, exactly? Nobody knows except the police.

It will get ugly though; very ugly.

The one battle where I have no idea how it will shake down is with dispensaries on First Nations Reserves.

The legal right of the provincial governments to regulate business on a First Nations Reserve is in doubt. Some of the Natives' legal arguments may well even prevail in court. In additions, unlike the tools the police and municipal authorities have to deal with store-front dispensaries and MoMs, they can't use those tools against the Natives. You cannot seize native land. You can't just put police tape up over a pot shop located on a Reserve and call it "done". You cannot get a court order to seize real property on Native land. No government can do it.

And that's before we deal with the reality that there is a real chance that those on Mohawk Lands may gather by the hundreds to oppose the police. With weapons. And then it's Oka all over again, writ large.

My bet is that, at the end of the day, the hassle won't be worth it. They let the natives get away with black market cigarettes, and they'll let them get away with pot shops, too. There is no appetite for that fight by those in power.
Click to expand...

Two dispency's were busted last summer in Chilliwack BC. One store front on two separate reserves...so the Natives aren't safe either.
If they want you shut down, you're shut down, regardless of on or off Indian lands...Period!
In these two instances... I'm sure it was instigated or ordered by the mayor of Chilliwack, she is a religious minister and hates all things marijuana...especially in her town.

Link to the full article in the Chilliwack news paper:

www.theprogress.com/news/breaking-r...lliwack-cannabis-shops-on-first-nations-land/

Peace...B
 
Last edited:
troutman

troutman

Seed Whore
fatigues said:
The one battle where I have no idea how it will shake down is with dispensaries on First Nations Reserves.

The legal right of the provincial governments to regulate business on a First Nations Reserve is in doubt.
Click to expand...
I know one thing, the Natives can't claim Cannabis was part of their natural heritage.
 
fatigues

fatigues

Active member
Veteran
Buddha1 said:
Two dispency's were busted last summer in Chilliwack BC...
Click to expand...

That's last summer. That is at a time when it was criminal to possess, distribute or sell in any manner (other than a narrow medical exception as an LP under the ACMPR).

Now, matters are different. Now, that same argument does not apply.
 
L

lamenamenumbers

Member
In response to the OP's original question, here on the South Island I saw at least one dispensary open in downtown Victoria on Thursday.( I believe it was a Trees dispensary and it was hopping. Although I think it would have been the after work rush I saw). I think the dispensaries in Cowichan all closed up shop until further notice. I can't say what is happening up Island, maybe someone can chime in. Some are going ahead with business as usual, others are waiting so as not to jeopardize their chances of getting licensed. I think there are a lot of stressed municipal bylaws folks dealing with a lot of permit requests right now. Just grow your own and be done with it:biggrin: Another factor in whether or not a dispensary remains opens or shut down is who the policing agency in that location is. Victoria is the Victoria Police Department and Cowichan would be various R.C.M.P. detachments. The VPD may have more room for discretion than the R.C.M.P.

As to the discussion about sales on First Nations Reserves, that will be very interesting moving forward. You could get fireworks and weed in one trip.
 
B

Buddha1

Member
Veteran
Buddha1 said:
Two dispency's were busted last summer in Chilliwack BC. One store front on two separate reserves...so the Natives aren't safe either.
If they want you shut down, you're shut down, regardless of on or off Indian lands...Period!
In these two instances... I'm sure it was instigated or ordered by the mayor of Chilliwack, she is a religious minister and hates all things marijuana...especially in her town.

Link to the full article in the Chilliwack news paper:

www.theprogress.com/news/breaking-r...lliwack-cannabis-shops-on-first-nations-land/

Peace...B
Click to expand...

Of the two Dispensary's in Chilliwack that were closed by the RC's last summer on Indian land...The Kure closed up and the Indigenous Bloom remained open.

The Kure dispensary closed the Sunday before legalization and posted a sign out front, stating it is closed and will reopen as a lisenced distributor and the other one, the Indigenous Bloom dispensary, is open, business as usual.


Link to The Kure Cannabis website:
https://www.thekurecannabissociety.shop/

I don't know the names but a couple dispency's in Abbotsford BC area have closed, also saying they will reopen with licensing to legally distribute in the future.

And rumor has it, that there are others doing the same all over Vancouver and Lower Mainland area...only a small percentage have closed due to applying for licensing, all the others are open doing business as usual.

Peace...B
 
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