Esquimalt will deny all applications for business licences for medical-marijuana dispensaries after a 6-1 council vote Monday.
Mayor Barb Desjardins said Tuesday the vote was based on the fact the dispensaries are illegal under federal law, and until that law changes, dispensaries looking to set up in the municipality will be referred to bylaw enforcement and Victoria police.
“Everyone felt if the federal law changed, then there would be that opportunity in the future, but with the current law the way it is, we need to follow it,” Desjardins said.
There has not been an application for a dispensary in Esquimalt, but an inquiry provoked the issue. Staff recommended council deny all applications.
An ongoing court challenge of Ottawa’s medical-marijuana laws has created uncertainty around pot shops. In the meantime, they are proliferating.
Pot dispensaries are one of the fastest-growing businesses in Victoria.
Following Vancouver’s lead, Victoria city staff have been asked to draft business and zoning regulations for them that could include licence fees and a ban on minors on the premises.
In late September, delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention voted in favour of a resolution asserting they have the power to regulate pot dispensaries.
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said the city has 20 unregulated dispensaries, but there might not be as many once a “regulatory regime” is in place.
Helps said she was happy to see the decision by Esquimalt council.
“Quite frankly, I think it will [be] very interesting to have two municipalities side-by-side taking different approaches,” she said. “Now we’re doing two pilot projects, not just one, basically.”
Helps said she hopes to see a report by November that addresses things like bylaw changes, the cost of business licences and how far apart dispensaries should be.
Security might also be an issue to consider, she said.
Saanich Mayor Richard Atwell said he hasn’t discussed medical-marijuana dispensaries with his council. “I hear that people want to come to Saanich, but as of yet, we haven’t received any applications,” he said.
A legal mail-order business for dispensing medical marijuana is operating in Saanich.
“I think there’s a constitutional right to medicine which is probably going to prevail,” Atwell said. “But at some point, the Ministry of Justice may have to do something at the provincial level in conjunction with the feds so that there’s some autonomy and some control here.”
The province’s municipalities joined Victoria and Vancouver in saying they have the authority to license medical-marijuana dispensaries, defying the federal government’s opposition to regulation of the illegal stores.
Desjardins said after attending the UBCM meeting and seeing the issues that Victoria and Vancouver are grappling with concerning dispensaries, she decided it was best to be proactive.
“They have significant challenges and until it’s clarified, we will just follow the law and be clear on our policy,” Desjardins said.
She said the business-licence fees are eaten up in processing costs.
Coun. Olga Liberchuk voted against the Esquimalt motion, saying she wanted to wait until after the Oct. 19 federal election to decide.
— With files from Bill Cleverley and Jeff Bell
Municipal policies vary
• Most Greater Victoria municipalities have not enacted any kind of policy or bylaw to deal with retail medical marijuana.
• Oak Bay, Central Saanich, North Saanich, Metchosin, View Royal and Sooke have no specific policy.
• Langford allows the sale of medical marijuana, but only through licensed pharmacies.
• Colwood has no policy or bylaw, but staff are in the process of studying and writing one to present to councillors.
• Highlands, which has no storefront retail operations, has enacted a bylaw to forbid the growing of medical marijuana in all zones.
• Sidney expects medical marijuana to undergo the same application processes as any other retail operation. That would mean no applicant could engage in any activity forbidden under federal or provincial laws.
— Richard Watts
