Vancouver devient la première ville canadienne à règlementer le marché grandissant de marijuana

Vancouver a approuvé de nouvelles règles pour autoriser et réguler les magasins illégaux de marijuana, faisant de cette ville la première du Canada à tenter de contrôler ce marché en pleine expansion – entrant ainsi en conflit avec le gouvernement fédéral du pays. Pour en savoir plus, en anglais, veuillez lire les informations ci-dessous.

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City council approved regulations to set zoning controls and licence fees for Vancouver’s many pot shops, a boom that’s come amid a haze of legal ambiguity.

Vancouver has approved new rules to license and regulate illegal marijuana stores, making it the first city in Canada to attempt to control the burgeoning market – and setting it on a collision course with the country’s federal government.

After four days of public hearings, the city council approved regulations that will set zoning controls and hefty licence fees for Vancouver’s many pot shops: the city of 600,000 is thought to have more marijuana stores than its 109 Starbucks locations.

Neon green cannabis leafs have sprouted in shop windows across the city, and many shops employ in-house “naturopaths” available for quasi-medical consultations.

The boom has come amid a haze of legal ambiguity: the supreme court has forced the Canadian government to allow access to medical marijuana for those with prescriptions, but it remains illegal to sell pot products from a retail storefront. Meanwhile, the Vancouver police department has stated that a crackdown on pot shops is not a priority for them.

In an attempt to resolve the contradiction, the council launched public consultations on regulation in April.

The proposal prompted a furious attack from Ottawa. Federal health minister Rona Ambrose wrote to Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson suggesting that any attempt to regulate the pot shops would mean legitimizing an illegal activity. She called on council to reject the proposal and close the stores down.

Vancouver councilor Geoff Meggs said Ambrose’s comments showed that she was “completely out of touch with the realities on the ground.”

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