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District of North Van may open door to pot shops

District of North Vancouver councillors say they may open the door to allowing marijuana shops in the municipality when cannabis is legalized this summer. While the district has yet to make a binding decision, councillors at a Feb.
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District of North Vancouver councillors say they may open the door to allowing marijuana shops in the municipality when cannabis is legalized this summer.

While the district has yet to make a binding decision, councillors at a Feb. 26 workshop eschewed prohibition, opting instead to address potential pot shop rezonings on a case-by-case basis.

Asked about district-wide pot prohibition, Coun. Roger Bassam said: “I think that ship’s sailed a while ago.”

Coun. Jim Hanson said he was “flummoxed” by the provincial decision to keep marijuana out of liquor stores. The segregation of pot and booze forces the district to come up with an approach to zoning that will keep pot shops far from schools as well as other dispensaries. Demand will likely be limited, according to Hanson, who said he didn’t envision the district being engulfed in a plume of smoke.

The district should confer with the City of North Vancouver before making a final decision, said Coun. Lisa Muri.

Muri recalled confusion when the city and district enacted conflicting bylaws regarding smoking on patios.

“Maybe this needs to be one of those times where we all get together,” she said.

Because the issue is a land-use decision, “we have to involve the public,” added Coun. Doug MacKay-Dunn.

MacKay-Dunn advised against letting unlicensed pot shops be “re-baptized by the province” as legitimate business establishments.

The district needs to assess how much they’ll profit from new licences and how much they may need to pay for increased enforcement before asking the province to help defray the difference, according to Bassam.

North Vancouver RCMP has four officers with drug recognition training, according to Supt. Chris Kennedy.

“We’re trying to bolster that,” Kennedy said.

New provincial laws would ban anyone from ingesting marijuana while riding in a vehicle.

Asked about the relative dangers of driving while under the influence of marijuana, Kennedy said he hadn’t seen that it’s “at the same level that impaired driving is.”

Marijuana smokers would be permitted to imbibe where smoking and vaping are allowed but not in parks, beaches or playgrounds.