Redefining Cannabis: BC Delayed Legislation

When you think of cannabis in Canada, the first province that comes to mind would be British Columbia. For many years, phrases like “BC bud” have floated around the cannabis community. There is no doubt that British Columbia has earned a global reputation for quality grown cannabis and a progressive attitude towards its legalization. With all this notoriety it has come as a surprise that both municipal and provincial regulations are lagging behind when most of the country thought this would be an industry we would be at the forefront of.

The first concerning law requires growing your legal plants out of sight of the public. For those of us in Kelowna, most residents who live within city limits will be unable to hide a 3-4 meter tall plant in their backyard without the risk of it being seen. Only British Columbia and the Yukon have implemented a law like this to date.

Nearly 1 in 4 Kelowna residents are ‘renters”. Bill-30 ( British Columbia’s Cannabis Control and Licensing Act) states that a landlord can choose to restrict growing cannabis. Your landlord can also decide if consuming cannabis at your home is permitted at all. If you think finding a rental that allows dogs is hard, how hard is it going to be to find a place that allows you to grow or consume your own cannabis?

With an exciting new industry, British Columbia has an opportunity to introduce new economic opportunities, which contribute to the economy and create jobs. This brings us to the third law, which, while well intentioned, lacks clarity. A list of prohibited smoking environments includes “a workplace”. A “workplace” is defined as a space in which a service is performed in exchange for compensation. A strict reading of this law implies that cannabis lounges would be illegal. While the city of Kelowna is filled with countless bars, it leaves one to wonder where can a group of friends go to enjoy recreational cannabis?

Municipally, the story isn’t much clearer. For a close-to-home comparison, let's look at Vernon and Kelowna. Currently, Vernon allows dispensaries to apply for temporary business licenses and permitting until legalization in October. This means that dispensaries can remain open and continue to do business in this transitional time. By comparison, the City of Kelowna has chosen to shut down all dispensaries. In an Interview with a local news organization, the City of Kelowna went as far as to say that they won’t be ready for legalization until 6 weeks after October 17th. Putting Kelowna well into the holiday season before residents will be seeing any recreational outlets. If Vernon was able to figure out a policy that could legitimize businesses in a grey area, why can’t Kelowna?

In a cannabis world of haves and have-nots, British Columbia is closer to the latter. From a municipal standpoint, the picture is no clearer. All of this is despite the fact that this plan has been three years in the making at the federal level, in addition to provincial and municipal political stability through most of that time. Is legal cannabis the end to BC’s cannabis reputation? Is Kelowna missing out on a huge economic opportunity? If you have an opinion let us know in the comments!