The city of Victoria is stepping in to tame the marijuana shops that have sprung up, seemingly on every downtown street corner. While the country waits for the federal government to bring rationality to Canada鈥檚 marijuana laws, the city is taking much-needed action.
The new regulations control distances between shops, hours of opening, licence fees, odour control, security measures and a host of other factors.
The rules require that every shop apply individually for rezoning to operate. That means stores will have to step up and operate under the bylaw, instead of floating along in a regulatory Never Never Land.
The applicants have to pay the cost of the rezoning process, which should help reduce the number of outlets.
鈥淲e鈥檒l see who鈥檚 serious about these businesses and who is not,鈥� Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said.
Marijuana-related businesses have taken off in the past 20 months, rising from four to an estimated 35. Of those, 32 are storefront marijuana retailers.
That seems like a lot in a city the size of Victoria. As with any new type of business, the market will eventually decide how many of them can survive.
The bylaw can help with the winnowing process. Kate Dalgleish, whose Green Mountain Consulting specializes in guiding marijuana-related businesses, agrees with that prediction. She estimates that about 20 shops will remain when the 鈥渘atural contraction鈥� is over.
One of the main points of the new bylaw is that shops cannot open with 200 metres of a school or each other. That could kick off a stampede because the applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.
The 200-metre rule is less restrictive than 91原创鈥檚 bylaw, which specifies 300 metres.
When 91原创 bylaw officers cracked down last weekend and started issuing fines to pot shops that were operating without business licences, they were greeted with defiance by some operators, who promised to remain open in spite of the penalties.
Why do they think the laws should be different for them?
In setting up shop, the stores took advantage of a bizarre situation in Canada where laws against possession of marijuana are not being enforced 鈥� at least in some places.
The courts have said that the medical-marijuana laws didn鈥檛 give enough access to patients, so the dispensaries started opening up in the grey area.
However, the laws requiring business licences are still on the books and being enforced.
Every business requires a licence from the municipality where it operates. Shops that sell marijuana must be subject to the same rules.
Some operators seem to want us to believe that they are rushing to meet the needs of suffering patients who can鈥檛 otherwise obtain the medication they need.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e not going to deny accessibility to their patients,鈥� said marijuana activist Jodie Emery after some 91原创 businesses remained open after being fined.
But with only about 40,000 people in Canada granted medical permits under the old system, companies such as Nanaimo鈥檚 Tilray producing mass quantities and the courts ruling that patients should again be able to grow their own, it doesn鈥檛 seem that access is a terrible problem.
The dispensary operators want to make money, just like any other business owners. They have to play by the city鈥檚 rules, just like any other business owners.
