Opening of Vancouver’s first legal cannabis dispensary delayed until next week
Posted December 28, 2018 5:28 pm.
Last Updated December 29, 2018 2:21 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — People hoping to make their first legal cannabis purchase in Vancouver tomorrow are going to have to wait a little while longer.
Vancouver’s first cannabis shop won’t be opening its doors tomorrow as planned because a few final details need to be ironed out. Mike Babins, co-owner of Evergreen Canabis in Kitsilano, says he was prevented from ordering product from the provincial government because his paperwork couldn’t be processed over the holidays.
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Babins says his company received the licence from the province to sell cannabis legally on Christmas Eve, but they’re still waiting for the City of Vancouver to rubber stamp the business license.
He says it’s just a formality as they’ve already had it approved in principle.
“We’ve been trying very hard to work with the city and the province to remedy the situation, but they can’t physically get into the building to issue the final paperwork that the city needs to send to the province before they can send us the product,” he says. “We thought, in due course, let’s be diligent about this, let’s just wait a week and make sure it’s done right.
“We’ve followed the rules from day one, and we’re not going to start breaking them right now.”
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He says there a few things that still need to be signed, like the Good Neighbour Agreement, and a final inspection as well as the business licence.
“They’ve been holding it for us this whole time, saying there’s no point in us issuing it until you actually have the provincial license, so that kind of got stuck in the circle there,” he says.
He says he’s hoping to have it all worked through by next Wednesday, but he’s going to wait until Saturday to make sure there aren’t any more snags.
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“We’re just going to give it some breathing room, and make it safe and confirmed that it will be Saturday morning,” he says.
Once open, it will be Vancouver’s first legal dispensary selling recreational cannabis.
