Canada is going to run out of legal marijuana soon after recreational sales are legalized next year if it depends only on federally licensed medical growers, say directors of the newly formed B.C. Independent Cannabis Association.
The association to the B.C. government Friday, as the NDP government consults local governments and the public about the looming federal deadline to legalize retail marijuana sales. It recommends that B.C. B次元官网网址渁void the central warehousing of fresh cannabisB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渕ake space for private distribution and retail within the legal framework.B次元官网网址�
The B次元官网网址渂est actors from the current illicit industryB次元官网网址� should be invited to operate under the new regulations, which B.C. has to have in place by next July 1 to control wholesale distribution and retail sales, says the submission.
After talks with other provinces and the federal government, B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said he is leaning towards a combination of provincial control and incorporating some of the locally licensed dispensaries that have popped up in B.C. communities. B.C. is crucial since it produces an estimated 70 per cent of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 cannabis.
Two of the associationB次元官网网址檚 directors spoke to Black Press. Travis Lane, founder of The Internet Dispensary and long-time grower, said B.C.B次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渃raft cannabisB次元官网网址� industry is world renowned, and communities would soon feel the hit if the federal and provincial governments force supply to be centralized in a few industrial operations.
Lane said itB次元官网网址檚 clear that if underground producers are shut out, B次元官网网址渢hereB次元官网网址檚 not going to be a gram of legal cannabis left in Canada at the end of July.B次元官网网址� He doesnB次元官网网址檛 expect the home of B.C. Bud to do that. He predicts it will follow the example of VQA wines and B.C. craft breweries in its licensing system.
B次元官网网址淚 expect the B.C. government to come up with public-private partnership similar to whatB次元官网网址檚 been happening with the loosening of the liquor laws,B次元官网网址� Lane said. B次元官网网址淚 think weB次元官网网址檙e going to see, where there are cities with a long-standing dispensary economy, those good-acting dispensaries are going to be allowed into the retail marketplace.B次元官网网址�
Courtland Sandover-Sly is chairman of the new association. He is a financial advisor and insurance broker for a dozen dispensaries, and says he was the first in North America to arrange a benefits plan for cannabis dispensary employees and management.
B次元官网网址淲e know that the NDP government here in B.C. appreciates the size of the industry,B次元官网网址� Sandover-Sly said, citing a Fraser Institute estimate of a $7 billion value to the economy. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 hopeful that they are aware of this and know that not protecting the industry could be devastating, particularly to rural communities.B次元官网网址�
Other directors are:
B次元官网网址� Alex Robb, general manager of Trees Dispensaries, one of the first to receive a business licence from the City of Victoria
B次元官网网址� Jamie Shaw, a government relations specialist who served as a director of the B.C. Compassion Club Society and president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries
B次元官网网址� Robert Laurie, a lawyer who worked in finance in London and New York before starting a practice focused on the business of cannabis and criminal defence
