A medical marijuana dispensary that has operated under the radar in Burnaby says it’s being forced to shut down just as recreational use and sale of the drug becomes legal later this month.
Green Light District Compassion Society has been open off and on over the last two years, right under the noses of both the local RCMP and City of Burnaby, its owner told the NOW. (The man asked that his name not be shared publicly, fearing it would impact his career and his lease tenancy.)
The first time the city learned of the dispensary’s existence was when its owner was scheduled to address council as a delegation at a Monday meeting, Coun. Colleen Jordan said.
“We’ve never had a store in Burnaby, so I was quite surprised to see that we had a compassion place,” she said. (Compassion Clubs are typically non-profit medical marijuana dispensaries.)
But the man appeared to get cold feet. He did not show up to speak during his allotted time. Jordan said he may have realized he was alerting local authorities to the previously covert operation.
“Maybe that's why they didn't show up because there was no address or anything on the letter.”
Pot shop open 'under the radar' of city officials
The city’s director of public safety and community services, Dave Critchley, said he could not comment on any interactions officials may have had with Green Light District.
In general, he said, the city would alert the RCMP if it learned of cannabis dispensary operating in the city. It could also issue a fine for operating without a business licence but that hasn’t happened, Critchley said.
Any private dispensary operating in Burnaby after Oct. 17 would be subject to enforcement under the incoming bylaw, he said.
“I don't know where they're operating,” Jordan said of Green Light District. “Unless they’re operating out of a private residence or something like that.”
But the dispensary’s address was listed online on Sixth Street and when the NOW visited the site on Thursday a sign outside read “Green Light District,” without identifying it as a marijuana dispensary. The storefront door and windows were blocked out with a reflective coating, and the door appeared to be controlled with an electric locking mechanism to “buzz” someone in.
An employee at the store told the NOW he could not speak on behalf of the operation.
The owner said Green Light District has been selling marijuana “kind of under the radar” over the last two years and has built up a loyal clientele. He said they had reopened just a few weeks ago, anticipating legalization would be a boon for the business.
“We thought we had a prime location,” he said.
But, since learning of the Burnaby bylaw, he said lawyers have advised him to close up the shop by Oct. 17 or move it to another municipality.
'Please consider the plea of many,' clients say
Council received two letters from Green Light District, including one with 82 signatories – all said to be clients arguing the dispensary should be allowed to continue operation after the Oct. 17 legalisation of cannabis, when Burnaby’s bylaw allowing only government stores to sell the drug in the city kick in.
“As a Burnaby resident and Compassion Club member, I am deeply hurt by the possibility that my Compassion Club may no longer exist,” a society member wrote. “Please consider the plea of many, who like me, have found a great deal of personalized support and care from the medical marijuana compassion clubs of Burnaby.”
The two letters are dated from late August and appear to have been intended for submission to a Aug. 28 public hearing on the cannabis sale bylaw. No one at the meeting stepped forward to speak for or against the proposal.
The letter writers argue that BC Cannabis Stores, operating under the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch of the provincial government, will not be able to provide the support and sense of community they find at Green Light District.
“Patients battling chronic illnesses from cancer to arthritis come together at Compassion Clubs,” one letter reads.
The letter also promised council it would donate five per cent of its profits to community programs “to prove Compassion Club commitment to communities.”
When council considered its approach to legalization, it elected to take the middle road, Mayor Derek Corrigan recently told the NOW. By allowing a maximum of one government cannabis store in each of its four town centres, Burnaby will ease into legalization, he said.
Jordan said council did not take medical marijuana dispensaries or non-profit compassion clubs into account when considering its bylaw.
