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VANCOUVER — If it wasn’t for the scent, customers who wandered into Eden Medicinal Society would be forgiven for thinking they had entered a boutique health store rather than a marijuana dispensary.

The distinctive fragrance greets shoppers at the door. It wafts from jars filled with bright green British Columbia bud lining spotless glass shelves. Flat-screen monitors on gleaming white walls display prices of golden hemp flower paste and mocha THC syrup.

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Behind the counter stands Vanessa Dandurand, the 30-year-old store manager with an encyclopedic knowledge of cannabis and many dedicated return customers.

“For so many of our clients, this can be the only positive interaction they have all day. Their other stops today might be the pharmacy to pick up their prescription. It might be their doctor who tells them their cancer isn’t getting any better,” she said.

The dispensary operates in the so-called grey market, or the portion of the marijuana industry that has both illegal and legal elements. Federal law bans selling weed over the counter, but Vancouver and Victoria have granted business licences to more than two dozen pot shops, including this Eden location.