By James Peters

Kamloops council approves business license for government cannabis store

Oct 16, 2018 | 2:06 PM

KAMLOOPS — “And history has been made.”

Those were the words of Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian as council voted unanimously to issue a business license to British Columbia’s first retail recreational cannabis store.

The one and only legal cannabis store in B.C. will officially open Wednesday morning.

“It means we do a good job and we’re open for business,” said Christian. “We have had time and we have had staff that have been particularly interested in this file and they have guided council and the community in the public consultation that it takes to get you to this stage.”

The vote in council chambers on Tuesday was unanimous at 8-0 with not a word of discussion, which christian attributes to the groundwork that’s been laid leading up to legalization. 

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“It reflects the fact that Kamloops city council has really done our homework with the guidance of our Development, Engineering & Sustainability division,” noted Christian. “They’ve really taken this file. We’ve had great consultation with the community, no less than three public hearings, and so today’s public submission was somewhat anti-climactic.”

Soon-to-be-retired councillor Pat Wallace says cannabis is the future and will benefit the city economically. 

“I think we’re well-conditioned for it coming, and whether we think it’s a good idea or not, the best we can do now is welcome an opportunity to have someone pay taxes and hire some people that would be looking for a job.”

Denis Walsh had to recuse himself from the vote on Tuesday with aspirations to open his own cannabis shop. He supports the new government-run store, but has concerns.

“I don’t think they’re prepared for legalizing cannabis right now,” said Walsh. “We have what we have – one store in B.C., which is unfortunate. But it just shows that there wasn’t enough planning in this. They didn’t have enough time.”

As the first store in B.C., Christian hopes to be an example other municipalities can look to in the not-too-distant future. However, Christian isn’t buying into the reefer madness.  

“There’s a lot of speculation about line-ups and people driving from afar. [But] let’s be realistic. You can obtain cannabis in Kamloops, you can obtain it in Vernon or in Kelowna, so I think the drive here for this novelty would be somewhat of a mistake,” said Christian. “That said, there will be other municipalities that will follow the lead of Kamloops.”