For Immediate Release
Thursday January 12, 2023
Victoria, B.C.: Starting on Wednesday January 18, members and supporters of the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club will gather weekly at 4:20 pm at City Hall until a new safe location for members to smoke is secured. New landlords have purchased the Johnson St. building where the VCBC has based itself for over two decades. The new lardlords are forcing the compassion club to close its smoking lounge as of January 9th, 2023. By gathering every week, club members will be able to socialize with friends and hear updates on the move to a new location for the non-profit society.
Previous Victoria city councils have shown very strong support for the VCBC in the past and City Hall has hosted many April 20 events and other Hempology 101 events, making Centennial Square the ideal location for these gatherings. Plans are in place to host the April 20 rally at the B.C. Legislature, where it was held in 2019 and 2022 with two years missed due to COVID.
Ironically, the BC government released the results of a survey on cannabis consumption spaces the day after The Box was closed. While the report acknowledges a clear majority of citizens want cannabis lounges, a small vocal minority has expressed concern about smoking cannabis in public facilities. The report concludes that there is little chance a serious effort will be made in the near future to license cannabis smoking lounges in B.C.
At the same time, the B.C. government has opened smoking facilities for people using hard drugs without any public debate. These facilities do not allow cannabis smokers to light up inside, forcing them to the curb outside. While these harm reduction spaces are an important component of health care, it is absurd that licenses and insurance can be available to those wishing to help people addicted to hard drugs but those needing to use cannabis as medicine have no similar opportunity.
Meanwhile, the situation with the club’s new landlord, Bluebird Self-Storage, is tense. Though the club has managed to find a place to move, it will not be available until the end of March. Unfortunately, it does not seem Bluebird Self-Storage will wait that long and may take the VCBC to court by the end of this month to seize the property.
For more information contact Ted Smith at 250-415-1063 or hellovcbc@gmail.com
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