Mayor Robertson says Ottawa "must be misinformed" on marijuana dispensaries
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson says he is frustrated that the federal government has dealt the cards, but not finished the game when it comes to regulating medical marijuana.
Robertson says Federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose is off base.
“She must be misinformed.”
Minister Ambrose fired off a letter to the city saying Vancouver doesn’t have the authority to legitimize pot and it’s concerned with its proposal to regulate dispensaries.
“It is frustrating when there are comments made or letters from the federal government when this is the arena that they are responsible for setting policy on, and dealing with that the courts say, which people do have a right to access to their medicines, we are not seeing constructive steps coming out of Ottawa on this yet,” Robertson said.
Ambrose says storefronts and dispensaries are illegal, but Robertson says they’ve grown four fold in recent years so the city has to do something.
“I think it’s just wrong, I think the minister must be misinformed as to what is taking place here. the city is taking action on this because there are so many dispensaries. The federal government’s approach has created the current landscape.”
The city wants to be the first in Canada to implement rules for the medical pot biz, described by some now as the “wild west.”
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