Chris Fairfax is looking into the future and sees one where marijuana gets equal if not greater billing than alcohol.
He’s thinking about joining the ranks of stores that are selling medicinal, even recreational pot, providing he can do so legally.
Fairfax, who owns The Wolf Bar on Lougheed Highway, told Maple Ridge council Tuesday that he pays $1,200 a year each for his business and liquor licences, that medicinal marijuana stores have no licences.
“I’m not here to complain about them or have them shut down. I just want an equal playing field.”
He’s concerned that other medicinal marijuana stores that are open now could have a head start once federal laws are loosened.
“I would hate to be told two years from now, because there are too many in the area that have opened illegally.
“I feel I needed to speak up and be prepared for what’s to come.”
Meanwhile, he says liquor sales in bars have been declining, although liquor sales in stores are doing well. He’d like to open up a store to sell medical and recreational marijuana above his bar on Lougheed Highway.
“I will not open the doors until everything is legal and I have council’s blessing and the proper licences.”
He asked council if stores selling marijuana open now will have an advantage?
“Ultimately, the federal government’s position is that these are illegal,” said Mayor Nicole Read. “So we cannot issue a business licence to a business that is not legal.
“Right now, we are just dealing on the reality that these are not legal in our community.”
Maple Ridge is waiting for Ottawa to change the law, after which the city will make its own laws in accordance with federal legislation.
Public works general manager Frank Quinn said the legal lines are blurred “between what’s legal and what’s perceived to be legal.”
This week, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that people can grow small amounts of their own marijuana for medicinal use.
Fairfax repeated his hope that when marijuana is legalized, that businesses with prior operating histories will be considered instead of businesses that opened illegally.
“It just doesn’t seem fair for those that would wait and do it legally.”
Coun. Craig Speirs said moving towards legalization will be a transition, and advised that the federal government should be contacted.
Coun. Gordy Robson said if council has a chance, it will consider his points.
“We’re waiting,” he added.
“I’m sorry we can’t give you more information on this, but unfortunately it’s just not our jurisdiction, and it is really out of our hands. It’s just as frustrating for us,” said Coun. Kiersten Duncan.
Colleen Briere, with Weeds, Glass and Gifts, a medicinal cannabis shop that opened four months ago on 225th Street, welcomes the ruling that allows people to grow their own medical marijuana.
Many people can’t grow their own because they’re too sick or just don’t want to bother.
Neither was she worried about major drug store chains possibly selling medical marijuana, comparing the industry to the fast food business, where there’s lots of competition.
The Hammond Compassion Society store opened last October on Maple Crescent, while The Always Growing Green store on 224th Street opened in 2009.
Briere said business is good at her store, though not as busy as she thought. Her father Don started the chain, which now has stores across Canada.
The store provides medicinal marijuana to people who belong to a compassionate society and who have a doctor’s note saying they need or are prescribed medicinal marijuana.
“We have little old ladies and men who have never drunk before,” getting edible marijuana to relieve systems.
Medical marijuana has also helped Briere’s 20-year-old son, who has a brain tumour.
Briere said voters in the last federal election showed they want marijuana legalized.
“People are waiting to see what they do with it.”
The current Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations intend for people to buy their medicinal marijuana from large producers by mail.
The Federal Court of Canada this week struck down regulations requiring licensed medical marijuana users to buy from Ottawa-approved growers, giving people the green light to continue growing at home.
The ruling is suspended for six months, but the four B.C. residents who launched the court challenge had their growing licences protected under an earlier interim order. Thousands of people in B.C. and across Canada received licences to either grow pot themselves or designate someone else to do it, before the Conservative government attempted to restrict production to large commercial growers who sent it by mail.
Federal Court Judge Michael Phelan ruled that preventing people from growing marijuana for medical purposes violates Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees “the right to life, liberty and security of the person.”
– with files from Black Press