By Dominic Abassi

Nanaimo pot shops remain ‘in limbo’ as Council waits for staff report

Mar 23, 2017 | 12:39 PM

NANAIMO — It appears, for the time being, Nanaimo will remain the Wild West when it comes to marijuana dispensaries.

The city has seen an explosion in storefront dispensaries, budding from two to 12 in 2015 alone, according to Nelda Richardson, the City of Nanaimo’s manager of business licencing. Richardson said the number fluctuates around 20 right now.

In December 2015, Council asked staff for a report on options for possibly regulating or licencing the burgeoning industry. “We haven’t been able to get that report in front of Council,” Richardson said.

“Until we do that, they’re not going to have the ability to provide any direction,” she said. “We are having challenges with some of the dispensaries that are not necessarily following their own guidelines and rules they have for themselves, while other ones are generally conscientious of their surroundings…where they’re located.”

Richardson said the lack of direction from the federal government has “created potential for some conflict.” She said many of the newer operations coming to town have an attitude the City should embrace the concept of storefront pot sales because of the promise of legalization.

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“Our hands are tied ultimately because it’s currently still illegal,” she said. Richardson is hopeful the staff report will be presented to Council in late April or early May.

She said the report will give councillors some options, including doing nothing, ordering bylaw enforcement or creating regulations.

Amanda Orum, a representative for the Nanaimo Cannabis Coalition, and another coalition member will appear before Council Monday night. Orum said they’ll ask the City to adopt a set of what she calls “non-regulations,” similar to ones created by the coalition, which represents 18 dispensaries and two delivery services in Nanaimo.

The guidelines set out how far dispensaries should be from schools, playgrounds or places where children congregate, as well as addressing issues like odour control from smoking lounges and product testing.

Orum said problems in the community, like a pot shop setting up beside a daycare, never would have happened if the City showed leadership and gave some direction on the issue.

“With the lack of direction, we don’t have a guideline to provide for these shops,” Orum said.

Nanaimo Mounties maintain the operations are illegal and said earlier this month local dispensaries had been put on notice to expect more raids. When asked for a response to the fact the dispensaries are breaking the law, Orum said their efforts are a form of “non-violent civil disobedience.”

“We haven’t gotten to the state we are in at a federal level without civil disobedience…we’re breaking unjust laws so we can provide proper laws in the future.”

Orum pointed out none of the 16 people arrested during city-wide raids in 2015 were ever formally charged.

Speaking outside a Nanaimo dispensary last weekend, cannabis reform activist Dana Larsen told NanaimoNewsNOW the Canadian judicial system is in crisis, with serious cases being thrown out because they don’t make it to trial quickly enough.

“In that situation, to be putting cannabis charges…anywhere near the top of that list is really an insult to people who are trying to deal with much more serious things that are going on.”

Larsen urged Nanaimo Council to regulate and licence dispensaries, “treating them like any other business.” He blamed the federal government for leaving municipalities in a “grey area” by creating laws the courts no longer want to enforce.

Mayor Bill McKay said he is “pleased” the City has taken a wait-and-see approach to the issue.

“You put a whole regulatory framework in place only for it to be overturned in a matter of months by the federal government, that’s not a good use of our community’s resources in my view,” he said.

dominic.abassi@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @domabassi