VANCOUVER — Support from two nearby schools helped to convince Vancouver city officials to allow a nearly 20-year-old medical marijuana shop to remain in operation.
In a release, the BC Compassion Club Society says members of the board of variance voted unanimously to allow the society to stay open at its Commercial Drive location on Vancouver's east side.
The society was one of 135 medical marijuana dispensaries ordered closed by the city last year.
That order came after new zoning and licensing requirements for pot shops were established, preventing the shops from operating near schools, community centres or other marijuana-related businesses.
City officials ruled the society violated regulations because it was too close to the schools.
The Compassion Club appealed the order and the five-member civic panel has ruled the club, which has been operating since May 1997, can continue providing medical cannabis to its 6,000 clients.
"This decision comes as a great relief to our ... members who have been waiting, terrified for this day", says Hilary Black, society founder.
"The heart of the issue is that we are near two schools, both have asked the city to let us stay in our home. Clearly the (board) has seen that we are not a threat to the public or the safety of children."
Black says the board of variance understood the compassion club is a safety net for patients who otherwise would fall through the cracks of the health-care system.
