After being turned down once, the Weeds Glass and Gifts store at 5536 Wharf Ave. is making a second attempt to obtain a business licence from the District of Sechelt.
“What we’re doing is putting pressure on them to do the right thing,” store manager Robin Kehler said Tuesday.
Kehler said the new application will seek a business licence only for the retail portion of the store, which would sell products similar to an established hemp shop in Sechelt. The medical marijuana dispensary portion, he said, would operate under the Canadian Weed Cannabis Society.
The store opened its doors in late February, but only to register medical marijuana patients. As of Tuesday, Kehler said, he had registered about 50 patients “and people are waiting for the online registration. They’ll support the cause, but they don’t necessarily want to come in the store.”
So far, four local doctors have been writing prescriptions, he said.
In his March 11 letter to the District, Kehler calls on the District to “maintain a neutral or unbiased position regarding our situation as well as represent the wishes of 60 per cent of their local constituents.”
That figure was based on an unscientific Coast Reporter reader’s survey that drew 331 responses.
“We intend to pursue this matter as long and as intensely as needed, but our hope is we can avert any conflicts at this stage,” Kehler wrote.
The District denied Weeds’ original business licence application on Feb. 12, after Sunshine Coast RCMP said enforcement action would be taken if the dispensary opened. At the time, interim CAO Bill Beamish said the District could not license an unlawful activity.
Storefront dispensaries are not permitted under Health Canada’s medical marijuana regulations, but more than 60 are operating in Vancouver without business licences and several have also opened in other cities and towns in the province.
