Victoria has become the latest British Columbia city to draft new bylaws for medical marijuana dispensaries, as Vancouver considers a plan to regulate illegal pot shops.
Council in the capital city has voted to ask staff to draft business licensing and zoning regulations, which could impose fees and new rules on security, record keeping and selling to minors.
Mayor Lisa Helps says she is especially concerned about the unregulated sale of marijuana to youth, who she says can suffer from early-onset schizophrenia and psychosis.
Helps says she is frustrated that municipalities are being forced to make drug policies after the federal government's restrictive medical marijuana laws created a "grey area" for police and cities.
Coun. Ben Isitt says staff are expected to take several months to draft the regulations before the public will have an opportunity to weigh in during a town hall.
Isitt says he expects the regulations to be similar to those proposed in Vancouver, where city council is considering a $30,000 licensing fee and strict rules about where stores can be located.
