Pubdate: Tue, 06 Sep 2016
Source: Kamloops This Week (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Kamloops This Week
Contact:  http://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1271
Author: Tom Fletcher

POT SHOPS HIGH ON 2016 UBCM AGENDA

B.C. communities struggling to deal with unregulated marijuana sales 
are looking for help, or a piece of the action, as growers and 
sellers compete for a share of the expanding legal market.

Pot problems are high on the agenda for the annual Union of B.C. 
Municipalities convention in September, as local governments continue 
to deal with fire hazards and retail outlets selling untested 
marijuana products in defiance of federal and local laws.

The UBCM convention will be held in Victoria from Sept. 26 to Sept. 30.

Nelson and Duncan councils are calling on the provincial and federal 
governments to share tax revenue with local governments, when the 
Justin Trudeau government puts its plan to legalize recreational 
marijuana sales next year.

Nelson also wants a say in the legalization process, as a 
federal-provincial task force tours the country to hear from public 
health, police and substance abuse experts.

For now, B.C. is the Wild West of pot production.

Communities that try to regulate quasi-medical dispensaries find 
their tickets and orders ignored as shops proliferate in a legal vacuum.

In Kamloops, there are at least two marijuana dispensaries operating.

Thus far, the two storefronts - which sell medicinal marijuana to 
those with a doctor's prescription - have been left alone by the City 
of Kamloops and Kamloops RCMP while the federal Liberals proceed with 
plans to legalize pot.

In July, Kamloops council did back a proposed medical-marijuana 
production facility in a Dallas industrial park.

Dr. Richard Brownlee of KamCan Products had written to council, 
offering a tour of the facility and asking for a letter of support.

Last fall, council agreed to rezone the company's 8170 Dallas Drive 
property to permit the facility.

In July, council voted unanimously to send a letter stating its 
support for medical-marijuana production in Kamloops.

The letter avoided singling out any particular company, so council 
can avoid giving preferential treatment to a single business.

Langley fire officials determined last month that a recent house fire 
was caused by an explosion in a marijuana extraction lab using butane 
as a solvent.

The process is used to make honey oil and shatter, a crystal 
concentrate that is one of the most potent marijuana preparations.

Oils and concentrates are sold in some dispensaries and used in baked goods.

Nelson recently saw its eighth pot store open without a business 
licence as it considers regulations adopted in Kimberley and Vancouver.

Sooke has three dispensaries as the issue moves to smaller communities.

In the Okanagan, communities are taking a harder line. Penticton has 
cancelled the business licences of medical-marijuana shops, despite 
their arguments they are compassion clubs supplying people with 
legally recognized medical uses.

Vernon council voted down a proposal to develop its own bylaw 
regulating dispensaries, as Victoria and other communities are doing.

A staff report advised councillors that business licences have not 
been issued because storefront sales remain illegal in Canada.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom