Vancouver City Councillor Says Only 20 Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Will Be Permitted
By Jeremiah Vandermeer, Cannabis Culture on
CANNABIS CULTURE – Vancouver Councillor Councillor Kerry Jang says only 15 – 20 medical marijuana dispensaries will be permitted to remain open as part of the city’s new licensing scheme.
“I expect maybe 15, up to 20 maybe, will actually make it through as a marijuana dispensary,” Jang said at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities 2015 Convention. “Which is a far cry from about the 120 that we have now.”
Jang was speaking at a forum on marijuana legalization hosted during the UBCM Convention, and also had this to say:
“When it came to marijuana shops that are actually dealing with kids, when it came to any marijuana shop that has any connection that we could prove to Hells Angels or organized crime, (Vancouver Police) take them out. … So our police are doing their job, it’s not just a matter of going in and wiping everybody out because that is worse, and it would cost the city a lot of money.”
Apparently Jang thinks wiping out over 80% of them is okay and won’t be too expensive.
The City of Vancouver wants the best of both political worlds (for them) on the medical marijuana issue. They want to be heroes to the medical marijuana community by fighting misguided Federal laws and allowing the licensing of med-pot shops, while at the same time forcing the closure of more than 80% of them to appease the opposition.
Closing nearly all of the dispensaries will undoubtedly hurt patients. Many will be forced to return to the black market for their medicine.
If City officials really want to help medical marijuana patients and the citizens of Vancouver, they would close down only dispensaries that have caused some measurable harm, and do it through a fair judicial process.
Jang had some tough words for marijuana dispensaries “dealing with kids” or connected to organized crime, and Vancouver police have recently raided several dispensaries under those pretences – but at this time, police have not presented any evidence to support their claims and the allegations have not been proven in court.
UPDATE: Some of Vancouver’s medical marijuana dispensaries are fighting back.
Article source Cannabis Culture
