Pubdate: Sun, 13 Apr 2014
Source: North Shore News (CN BC)
Page: Front Page
Copyright: 2014 North Shore News
Contact:  http://www.nsnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/311
Author: Jeremy Shepherd

MEDICAL POT GROWS NEED DNV APPROVAL

Leaves of three, let it be. Leaves of four or more, you'll have to
check in with the District of North Vancouver and your neighbours.

On Monday, District of North Vancouver council unanimously gave first
reading to a bylaw that would ban medical marijuana production and
distribution in the municipality.

The bylaw is not meant to close the door on medical marijuana, said
Mayor Richard Walton.

But it does mean any medicinal pot operations will have to apply to
the municipality and go through the scrutiny of a public hearing
before setting up shop.

"A commercial establishment won't all of a sudden find that the
landlord next door has leased out a medical marijuana facility," he
said.

Coun. Alan Nixon wanted to be sure North Vancouver residents are aware
of the magnitude of these operations, pointing out Richmond is
currently pondering a facility that could produce 540,000 kilograms of
marijuana.

"When it might come to the district, it's not going to be a small mom
and pop kind of scale, it's going to be a large distribution
warehouse," he said.

The district may hear applications for small cottage cultivation as
opposed to big industrial production, suggested Coun. Mike Little.
"There's an awful lot of aficionados in this area, and the interest
from that group wasn't mass production, it was very much small, in the
same way you'd see a craft brewery," he said.

Little said he would consider a marijuana facility in some spaces, but
security would be his paramount concern. "The District of North
Vancouver is certainly large enough with a varied enough land use that
we should be able to find some suitable sites," he said.

Former Vancouver Police Department officer Coun. Doug MacKay-Dunn
supported the proposal, albeit with one caveat.

"The situation in Deep Cove where a shop opened very close to a school
should not be repeated," he said.

Council has heard presentations advocating an overhaul of Canada's
marijuana laws, including words from Stop the Violence founder Evan
Wood, who has called marijuana the jet fuel of organized crime.

Those presentations, along with recent reforms in Colorado and
Washington, have been influential, according to Coun. Lisa Muri. 
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