We had scarcely heard about the unlicensed cannabis store operating on Tsleil-Waututh land before provincial inspectors raided it and seized its pot and proceeds last week.
To be fair, the province warned pot proprietors they wouldn’t stand for more illegal shops and that raids were coming. But we also aren’t clear on what the rules should be for First Nations-owned stores on First Nations land.
And when it comes to legal options for North Shore residents, their closest choices are in Vancouver, Bowen Island and Squamish. The District of North Vancouver is entertaining a handful of cannabis retail applications but many are receiving blowback from neighbours. They’ll corrupt the youth of the North Shore, they say. Criminals will appear. The neighbourhood will be ruined. City of North Vancouver council followed similar illogic when they rejected four out of six potential pot shops earlier this year.
Anyone clutching their pearls at the thought of a cannabis store opening in their neighbourhood should probably visit a pot shop, even if they have no intention of making a purchase.
They’ll find there is no smell. No criminal element. No kids being served. In fact, critics argue the stores are so sanitized, overly regulated and expensive, they’re actually a total buzzkill.
Not every proposal is going to be a perfect fit. But if our councils are going to just say no, we want a better justification than 1950s-style moral panic that’s forcing legal businesses and their law-abiding customers from the North Shore.
Pot is legal. Unfortunately, a Prohibition-era mentality remains the law of the land.
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