Ted Smith Last year the city of Victoria announced it would follow the lead of Vancouver in licensing medical cannabis dispensaries soon after the big city declared their intentions. However, the final bylaws that Victoria will soon be passing are quite different than the ones in Vancouver. In several important areas the city of Victoria […]
Tag: dispensary
Cannabis Dispensaries and the Meaning of Civil Disobedience
Judith Stamps If you look at the cover of the May 2016 issue of MacLean’s, you will see a pastiche of cannabis dispensary photos overlapped by a bright yellow circle. In the circle are the phrases: A DRUG DEALER ON EVERY CORNER; ridiculously easy to buy; completely out of control; with the addition of the […]
Insurers Move to Include Canadian Cannabis Businesses
Courtland Sandover-Sly Hey, you! Yes, you. Did you know that marijuana-related businesses qualify for employee benefits? Or property and casualty insurance? Things sure are changing fast in Canada these days, and there are some important opportunities you should know about. To answer the first question: Yes, companies in Canada have already obtained and put into […]
Blazing a Trail for Medical Cannabis Access
Into the Breach, Part 2 (Read into the Breach Part 1) “There is no passion to be found in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” – Nelson Mandela Chris Clay In the fall of 2014, I found myself seriously experimenting with cannabis for the first time […]
15 Years Since Brief Existence of “Ted’s Books”
Ted Smith This month marks 15 years since the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club secured a storefront to provide cannabis products to patients. Since we were operating a clearly illegal enterprise, the landlord was nervous about having a store that sold cannabis openly and requested we create another business to act as a front for the […]
City of Victoria Cannabis Regulations Survey
Owen Smith The City of Victoria is currently exploring potential regulations relating to the operation of medical marijuana-related businesses within the municipality. There are only three days left to complete this survey created by the Victoria City Council to inform the regulation of medical cannabis dispensaries and other cannabis-related businesses. TAKE THE SURVEY HERE 20 years after the […]
8 Challenges to Opening a Cannabis Dispensary
Jamie Shaw (Article previously appeared at Canlio.com) I’ve been asked a few times to tackle a piece on how to start a medical cannabis dispensary. I finally agreed, then thought about it for a bit, and nope. Not gonna do it. Dispensaries are still illegal (to what level depends on where in North America you […]
Editors Note on Our Political Condition
Judith Stamp These days, Canadian cannabis activists, patients, and supporters alike, live uneasily. The new majority federal government has stated its intention to legalize cannabis, but it will take some time before this plan is finalized. This time gap leaves us in an in-between space. Of course, we recognize many kinds of in-between spaces. An […]
We The Patients – Our Hope’s and Fears
Beth Cormier Recently I spent some time in the VCBC’s Safe Inhalation Space to speak with some of the patients that use this invaluable service. I wanted to get a sense of their thoughts and feelings about the space and what could happen when the new regulation come into effect in Victoria. The issue is […]
Meeting Last Chance To Save Safe Inhalation Rooms
Ted Smith On Monday Feb 22, 2016, the City of Victoria will be hosting a town hall meeting to give citizens an opportunity to meet with municipal politicians to discuss the new medical cannabis bylaws. With as many as 34 dispensaries openly operating in Victoria, the city is attempting to follow the lead of Vancouver […]