Feds Push Vancouver to Shut Down Medical Marijuana Shops
Federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose is pushing Gregor Robertson to halt plans to regulate 80-plus unlicensed medical marijuana dispensaries, and close down the shops instead. The city's looking at harnessing the booming medical pot industry by enforcing a $30k licensing fee and requiring shops to locate at least 300 metres from schools. "Storefront dispensaries are not part of the Health Canada regime in any way," the minister said in a letter. Federal regulations on access to medical marijuana when prescribed by a physician “are clear and do not provide municipalities with the authority to legitimize the commercial sale of marijuana, which remains an illegal substance." Dispensaries are “commercial entities selling pot on street corners.”
