Powell River now has a second medical marijuana dispensary providing cannabis products to the public, despite the fact RCMP and City of Powell River mayor Dave Formosa say it is illegal.
WeeMedical Dispensary Society, a dispensary chain started in Nanaimo which is a non-profit society, set up shop at the corner of Marine Avenue and Courtenay Street on Wednesday, April 13.
WeeMedical joins Grassroots Botanicals Wellness Cooperative, which reopened its dispensary on Willingdon Avenue in January.
Dispensaries offer a variety of products, including various strains of medical marijuana, edibles infused with cannabis oil and medicinal balms.
Formosa said this is not the first time the issue of medical marijuana dispensaries opening in the city has been raised.
“These outlets are illegal in Canada,” said Formosa, “and as far as city council is concerned, we have nothing that tells us we can create a bylaw to make them legal. What we’re seeing is an illegal practice, one I don’t think the RCMP is going to tolerate.”
WeeMedical does not have a business licence to operate in Powell River and until the federal government makes marijuana legal, the city will not issue one, said Formosa.
According to city director of planning services Thomas Knight, all businesses operating in the city, including non-profit societies, are required to hold a business licence.
Powell River RCMP detachment commander staff sergeant Rod Wiebe said that police will be working closely with city bylaw enforcement to investigate WeeMedical’s opening.
“Our position is they are operating illegally and we will act accordingly,” said Wiebe. “Ultimately, because it’s a criminal offence, [the dispensary] will have to be investigated and grounds established to either apply for a search warrant or make arrests.”
In the fall of 2014, Formosa and the previous city council came out in favour of promoting medical marijuana as one potential industry to aid in Powell River’s economic redevelopment, and supported the application of a company wishing to participate as a grower for Health Canada’s Marihuana for Medical Purposes (MMPR) program.
That program, which restricted access for patients to its registered growers through the mail, changed when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled last summer it was legal for patients to grow their own.
Despite the ruling and what some proponents call a legal grey area, dispensaries are still not considered legal, though some jurisdictions, such as City of Vancouver, selectively enforce drug laws. Vancouver has seen an explosion of medical marijuana dispensaries over the past few years, with a recent estimate of over 90 city-wide.
Smaller BC communities have also seen an increase in dispensaries since October’s federal election brought the Liberal Party to power. One of its election promises was to legalize marijuana for recreational use. The federal government has yet to make good on that promise, but it has not stopped dispensaries from opening in advance of the decision.
Health Canada has yet to license any dispensaries to provide medical marijuana or cannabis products to the public.
In addition to its Nanaimo location, WeeMedical operates dispensaries in Port Alberni, Sechelt, North Vancouver and Campbell River.
Despite its various locations, WeeMedical has not had an easy time opening storefronts. In response to two dispensaries opening in Campbell River, one owned by WeeMedical, Campbell River city council recently started proceedings to amend a bylaw to prohibit all marijuana operations unless they are legally permitted through Health Canada.
Campbell River's outlet was raided by RCMP on Thursday, April 14.
After only being open for 18 days, RCMP also raided a WeeMedical dispensary in Chilliwack on April 5. It had been operating without a business licence and in violation of city bylaws.
Both WeeMedical and the building’s owner were handed hefty fines, the city shuttered the storefront with a do-not-occupy order and the dispensary’s manager was arrested and charged for violating the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
A representative of WeeMedical declined to comment on the Powell River branch opening.
