The elected mayor of Vancouver will not make a noise

The elected mayor of Vancouver said the city would "not turn his head" in front of pots-and-pits or small illicit grow-ops, because the cannabis industry deserved to have the time to adapt to legalization.

The city is known for its lax attitude towards public sales and marijuana use, but still has no licensed shop, several weeks after the legalization of the drug across the country.

Some clinics have chosen to keep their doors open while waiting for their license applications to be processed. Since they do not have access to the provincially controlled legal supply chain, they sell cannabis on the black market.

"The black market looks very damaging and Tony Soprano-ish, but the black market is also an illegal crop of plants in their back yard," said mayor-elect Kennedy Stewart in an interview.

"I do not want to break my head in neighborhoods, it does not make sense to me."

The province is responsible for controlling illegal clinics with a new community security unit, but cities and the police will also play a role. Stewart said he would work alongside all levels of government after his swearing in on Monday.

Many parts of the country do not want cannabis, but Vancouver's culture is different and it should take advantage of it to grow its economy, Stewart said.

"Vancouver is somewhat unique in our tolerance and expertise in this area, which is important," he said.

The elected mayor of Vancouver, Kennedy Stewart, addressing supporters in Vancouver on Sunday, October 21, 2018. (Darryl Dyck / Canadian Press)

The route of the city with marijuana dispensaries is complex. When the city and the police decided to take action only if there were public security problems, such as sales to youth or alleged links with gangs, the number of pottery shops exploded to reach over 100

City Council has put in place a licensing regime in 2015 to reduce the number of stores. Commercial licenses ranged from $ 10,000 to $ 30,000 and stores were to be located 300 meters from schools, community centers or between them.

To date, only 19 of them have received a license and dozens of others have decided to stay open. The city has taken legal action against those who refuse to close their doors and a decision has not yet been issued.

Even those with city licenses still violated federal law, as in-store cannabis sales remained illegal in Canada until October 17.

And now, with legalization, all Vancouver stores are still illegal, none of them having been licensed by the province and the city under the new regime.

Four steps to obtain a provincial license

The new plan has four stages: stores apply to the province; the province reviews the application and returns it to the municipality; the municipality reviews and makes a recommendation to the province; and then the province issues a license.

In Vancouver and in other cities, there is also a fifth step: the city must issue its own business license.

By mid-October, Vancouver had received seven requests for review from the province.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth has championed British Columbia's pace of store licensing. BEFORE CHRIST. has a public store and a private store, while Alberta, New Brunswick and Newfoundland have about 20 stores each.

"We have taken an approach that has worked a lot with local governments and we think it was the right approach to take," Farnworth said on Oct. 19.

Mr. Stewart, a former NDP MP, noted that Mr. Farnworth also advised illicit stores to shut down if they wanted a provincial license.

The elected mayor said that it was necessary to provide for a period of adjustment for stores that are not "long-term chronic offenders".

"It's a whole new thing that cannabis is legal in the country, it sets a precedent, we need to give people time to adapt," he said. "I look at everyone as small business owners … there will be a little time to adapt."