Marijuana advocate: Vancouver’s pot shop school distances rules outdated
Posted January 13, 2019 9:44 pm.
Last Updated January 13, 2019 9:56 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — As 29 cannabis dispensaries in Vancouver face shutdown after the end of the month, a well-known activist is arguing the bylaws governing pot shops in the city are too onerous.
Dana Larsen, director of marijuana advocacy group Sensible B.C., says those bylaws were written before the legalization of recreational pot, and it’s time for them to be revised.
“There’s a lot of dispensaries — close to 30 — that would love to stay open and transition into the legal system, but they can’t because the bylaws are so restrictive,” he says.
Related stories:
Cannabis Culture closing all of its Vancouver dispensaries, cites pressure from city hall
Vancouver now has legal pot shops; customers say this changes how they plan to buy weed
He says he doesn’t understand why cannabis shops have to follow different rules than liquor stores.
“If we could get the same kind of distances that liquor stores have, that would make a huge difference for a lot of dispensaries in the city being able to stay open,” he says.
Some, he says, are too close to schools as current bylaws ban cannabis dispensaries being within 300 metres of a school or youth centre. Others might be in an industrial zone where cannabis stores aren’t permitted.
The B.C. Supreme Court ruling means any shops operating without licences beyond Jan. 31 will be found in contempt of court.
WATCH: Doors open for legal pot shop
Larsen is hoping to stop dispensaries from shutting down, launching a new website advocating for change in Vancouver. It asks visitors to lobby council to change distance requirements, reduce fees, lift zoning bans and allow for better medical access to help existing shops stay in operation.
His website says shops should be allowed to operate within 150 metres of schools, and says the cost of business licenses is thousands more than a license for a liquor store.
