Pot activists should take a chill pill and wait for federal legislation legalizing marijuana before setting up a business that makes criminals out of their customers.
There is no grey area: Possession and sale of marijuana for non-medical purposes is still illegal. Yet twice local entrepreneurs have tried to set up shop in Port Coquitlam.
One was a franchise operating under the Cannabis Culture brand owned by the Mark and Jodie Emery, a couple facing multiple charges on pot-related offences in Ontario. It was one of 19 marijuana stores under the brand, and although it didn't last long, it made a laughingstock of local bylaws while it was open.
Last week, the city moved to close loopholes by banning weed sales and establishing fines and requiring compensation for policing costs.
You would think these bylaw changes would be unnecessary given that selling non-medical marijuana is a federal crime but marijuana entrepreneurs have chosen to ignore that technicality while establishing beachheads in numerous locations across the country to get out in front of regulations and establish their brand.
In this, Mark and Jodie Emery and their supporters are either forward-thinking or arrogant, depending on your point of view.
But in styling themselves as progressive leaders, they are ignoring the fact that until rules are in place, these shops are a magnet for crime, raising numerous safety and policing concerns, and creating potential costs for taxpayers and uncertainty among potential customers.
This is not to say that marijuana shouldn't be made legal within strict rules. There is much to commend legalization and control of pot sales.
Even the Canadian government acknowledges as much on its justice ministry website, laying out public safety, cutting into organized crime and (hopefully) limiting access to youth as key reasons for making marijuana legal.
This acknowledgement on the part of a federal government wasn't tacit acceptance, however, of unlawful businesses, and even if the Liberals introduced legislation tomorrow, there would be some time to go before pot shops can open legally.
In a democracy, we tend to wait for politicians representing constituents to first have their say, then the Senate gets a stab at the new laws before they are given royal assent. So these small business owners should wait until the law is on their side before applying for a business licence here in PoCo, or anywhere else in Canada for that matter.
