British Columbia's First Private Cannabis Shop Licensed to Kimberley

The first non-recreational BC private cannabis license was awarded to a former medical pot store in East Kootenays.

Tamarack Cannabis Boutique in Kimberley will be licensed from the Liquor Control and Cannabis Branch of British Columbia on Thursday. The store was the first medical cannabis dispensary in Canada to receive a commercial license from its local government, even before Vancouver, after a council vote in 2015.

"I'm a little happy right now," said owner Tamara Duggan on Wednesday night. "When I have this document in hand, it will be an exciting time."

The store began selling cannabis for non-medical purposes on October 17, but upon receiving its license number on Thursday, it will be able to order cannabis wholesale from British Columbia. Alcohol Distribution Branch – the only legal way in which private stores can acquire products for resale for recreational purposes.

Duggan, owner of the store with her husband Rod, said the officials had come to inspect him Tuesday night, had told them of their positive comments and asked them to pay a license fee on a government website. .

"The process was quite long, sometimes difficult," she said with a chuckle. "At every step, the government was just the next step before me."

Duggan said that Tamarack would keep the same staff and remain focused on customer service, but that the product line would change and that they would start selling smaller quantities, including one gram samples. .

She said the pricing would be a "mystery" until she receives her license number on Thursday and can connect to the UK data center. Wholesale website of the Liquor Distribution Directorate.

"It was pretty interesting because I knew they were working very hard to get the whole system together, and then they found out I was basically a guinea pig," she said.

"So for the people who come behind me – thank you very much – I did the hard work for you."

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The recently re-elected mayor, Don McCormick, said Kimberley had received no complaints about Tamarack and that the Duggans had donated tens of thousands of dollars to local non-profit organizations.

"Tamarack Dispensaries is a great corporate citizen, great for the community and I think it's very appropriate that they get the first commercial license in the province," he said.

"They thought it was extremely important to be a valuable part of the community and they did everything they could to make it that way."

The province began accepting online applications for private and government store licenses on August 10, and since then, only one licensee in BC Cannabis Store has opened in Kamloops, under the direction of BC. Directorate of the distribution of alcoholic beverages. But Wednesday, the province had received 255 claims for stores and 90 requests had been sent to local governments or nations, according to a weekly report.

Over 300 applicants and more started the application process but did not pay the $ 7,500 fee from the province.

The BC Liquor and Cannabis Regulations Branch has also requested the opening of government stores in two locations in Nanaimo, according to a report in the local newspaper The News Bulletin. Kamloops City Council has approved a pair of private stores, while the Port Hardy Council has approved one.

The Ministry of the Attorney General and LDB refused to provide more details on the number and specific locations of applications.

Sara Mohsin, Account Executive at Rising Tide Consultants, who works with cannabis claimants, said that she could not share sensitive information about their claims, but that a processing delay of Approximately two weeks was now elapsed between the sending of the application and that the province informed it that a request had been forwarded to the local government.

"We had a quick and effective response from the LCRB," said Mohsin. "The turnaround was fast."

In Vancouver, where some clinics continue to operate without a license, the province has sent nine requests for control to the city since September 19. City staff has informed eight of the applicants and is considering another application, spokesman Jag Sandhu said in an email. .

Seven of the applicants already had an urban planning permit and five of them have since posted signs to display for 14 calendar days, indicating their intention to obtain a provincial retail permit. The public can submit to the city feedback on the applications, which will be taken into account.

After that, they will have to submit to an inspection of the city before they can get a business license for the city and open.

Sandhu said that the city was not yet certain of the opening of the first store.

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