For Roberts Creek cannabis dispensary owner Kalawna Biggs, this year’s 420 marked “the beginning of a new era,” because of the expected legalization of cannabis in July. “It makes economically a huge difference in B.C. and we really need to embrace that,” Biggs said.
It remains illegal to sell cannabis products in B.C., something Biggs said she worries about every day, but which didn’t stop her from setting up shop. “We’re out there minimizing pain and suffering, so even a police officer would look at that and say, ‘What’s so criminal about that?’”
Biggs, who opened her business on 420, co-organized the celebrations in the Heart of the Creek with Renee Boje, owner of Shakti Blissful Botanicals, and Natania Rogers, manager of Elfinstones Gemshop. Biggs said about 30 people braved the rain to listen to live music and participate in the day’s festivities. “It was very unique. The turnout was good for it being such a quick put together,” she said.
Semir Yusuf, a yoga practitioner who was also part of the event, calls cannabis a “master teacher plant,” that he credits with helping him refine his yoga practice. “I’m interested in supporting people who are sharing this plant with the community for health and well-being,” he said, while listening to musician Natalia Whilhelm loop her voice at the event’s main stage.
Yusuf said he is also looking forward to legalization. “I believe in access,” he said. “It’s a powerful plant. It’s something we can have reverence for. We don’t need to hide her in basements.”
For Boje, legalization brings with it personal significance. She calls herself a “drug war refugee” and moved to Canada from California in 1997 under advisement of her lawyer because she refused to testify against two men with chronic illnesses embroiled in cannabis-related offences. “It took me 10 years in the courts to finally be able to stay here in Canada and settle things. Now I can travel to the U.S. and it’s all behind me, but it inspired me to become a cannabis activist.”
Her hope is that legalization will permit independent businesses and growers to operate. “It would be good if these kinds of medicines can still be supported and offered rather than having to go to London Drugs and get your cannabis out of a dispensary with seeds that are grown by Monsanto.”
Each province is setting its own regulations around cannabis, and B.C. will permit private retailers to sell it. The province will control all wholesale distribution though the Liquor Distribution Branch. Municipalities will have the final say on whether private or public shops can operate within their jurisdictions, with some exemptions for rural areas such as Roberts Creek.
The province is still ironing out details, and more are expected in the coming weeks around setting the legal age for consumption, possession limits, impaired driving and rules around retail licences.
Currently there are six cannabis dispensaries on the Sunshine Coast.
