The City of Victoria just got some help from the courts in reining in the Wild West of marijuana shops in the municipality.
At least 32 cannabis shops have popped up all over town in the past few years, and in 2016, the city brought in regulations to try to bring some order to the frontier. Other municipalities took a zero-tolerance approach, shutting them down whenever they appeared.
Whether one saw Victoria’s attitude as caving in to lawlessness or acknowledging reality, it wasn’t clear if the rules would stick if they were challenged.
Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson of the B.C. Supreme Court laid that question to rest when he granted the city an injunction to shut down the Green Dragon Medicinal Society.
Green Dragon operated at 541 Herald St., and it applied for rezoning so it could get a business licence that would allow it to continue operating. The city refused because the shop is 155 metres from Chinese Public School at 636 Fisgard St., and zoning prohibits pot stores within 200 metres of schools.
With the injunction, the city is confident its bylaws have some teeth, and it can go after some of the scofflaws that have continued to operate after they were rejected.
