Pubdate: Sun, 14 Jan 2018
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2018 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Susan Lazaruk
Page: 3

POT VENDORS STILL SELLING IN OPEN

Illegal booths continue to operate in downtown square despite mayor's
vow to crack down

After Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said to "stay tuned" to see how
the city and police plan to oust illegal pot vendors from the
Vancouver Art Gallery square, a handful of vendors were still
operating an open drug market there.

Darren Tarry, owner of DZ Buddz, is one of the unlicensed marijuana
vendors regularly setting up shop on the south side of the Vancouver
Art Gallery.

Darren Tarry of Mission said on Friday that he sells marijuana there
12 hours a day, three days a week, without a permit or licence, and he
usually has a lot of competition.

GROWING YOUR OWN, Page 10

"Today there's four of us, but tomorrow it's going to be crazy," he
said, saying there can be 30 to 40 vendors on a busy weekend day.

The mayor and Vancouver police admit they're concerned about the
growing number of unlicensed pot vendors who regularly sell on the 800
block of Robson Street, a pedestrian-only stretch of street.

"It's an important public space," Robertson told reporters last week.
"Obviously that's a permanent plaza now, so those current people that
are illegally using that space, that's a situation we have to deal
with."

When asked what he would do, Robertson repeated "stay tuned" three
times without providing any details.

He didn't respond to a request for comment on Friday.

A Vancouver police spokesman, Sgt. Jason Robillard, said "police
resources are limited" when it comes to dealing with drug issues and
suggested the "current opioid crisis" takes precedence.

"That being said, we are concerned that the situation in the 800-block
of Robson Street has evolved over the past year," he said in an email.
He said police are "monitoring" the situation closely and "have been
working with the city to resolve (issues)."

City spokesman Jag Sandhu said in an email, "The city has been
proactive in working with these vendors during their time on public
land, which the vendors view as protest."

He said the city began "regular street-use bylaw enforcement efforts
to remove the vendors" in November, as they lack permits and business
licences. They're subject to two bylaws and $1,300 in combined fines,
he said.

"Enforcement has been involving progressive escalation intended to
encourage vendors to leave the space on their own," said Sandhu. That
includes verbal and written warnings, impounding of tents, followed by
the $1,000 ticket for operating without a licence, he said.

On Friday afternoon, Tarry, who on a "good day" makes "$1,500 and up,"
said he's been issued two $1,000 fines for illegal vending by police
over past month but he's disputing them.

"I'm going to court so we can get a licence," said Tarry, a former
sheet metal worker who after an injury turned to selling pot and pot
products, including cookies, gummy worms and honey that he and his
wife produce in their kitchen. "I'd gladly pay it (licensing fee)." As
a large cloud of hashish smoke from the adjacent seller's table
envelopes him, he says selling pot shouldn't be available only to
"large corporations" who can open dispensaries and this is his way of
protesting.

"They're not protesting, they're selling," said Aree Rakkiat, owner of
the nearby Sauzzy Thai food truck.

She said she objects to the invasion of pot dealers to the square
where FRANCIS GEORGIAN she has parked her truck for the past three
years and has complained to city hall a number of times.

Some days, she feels overwhelmed by the number of pot
vendors.

"I can't stand the smell," she said. "I open at noon and some days I
have to leave by two, it's so strong."

She said she suspects the clouds of marijuana smoke scare away her
customers, especially those with children.

And she said she considers it unfair that she has to pay her
$1,500-a-year licensing fee and other expenses that the pot vendors
don't.

Tarry, who needs only a table and a canopy for rainy days, said he
passes savings on to customers, charging $5 gram, compared with
dispensaries that he said charge $12.

The owner of DZ Buddz said all his products are "tested and regulated"
even though they're not marked as such and he can't prove it, that he
buys only from licensed producers and not the black market run by
gangs and that he insists on seeing ID to prove the buyer is 19.
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MAP posted-by: Matt