Vancouver to become 1st City in Canada to regulate Marijuana Shops
Posted by Sagar Satapathy on April 23, 2015.
In a major development, Vancouver is all set to become the first city in Canada to regulate marijuana shops, which means selling marijuana will be regulated and permitted with riders. The pot still remains illegal in Canada. It is available to people only by a mail order, prescription system set up by the federal government.
The Vancouver City will now permit the operation of dispensaries under a new framework that would select the businesses to be permitted to open stores. The operating conditions would be made stringent to prevent any misuse or abuse. The proposed framework may take months to implement. It also needs the approval of the Council before taking effect.
Although no regulated marijuana shops exist in Vancouver today, the officials have detected more than 80 unregulated, unlicensed and illegal marijuana shops and dispensaries in the city that have come up in the last two years. Only in the last four months, 20 new shops have opened in the city. A city Councillor said that efforts are being made to regulate an unregulated business without trying to get into any controversy.
The officials argue that Vancouver will earn $30,000 annual administration fee per shop apart from the business license fee, which is around $5,000 per year. Each shop will have to renew every year, resulting in more revenue for the city. The bill has certain provisions such as allowing only individuals to own the shops and complete background check of the employees working at the shops. It will be made mandatory not to allow dispensaries within 300 meters of schools and community centers.
