The residents of a condominium complex near Hornby and Beach have been told that having a medical marijuana dispensary in their building will mean the cancellation of the building’s insurance, one of the condo owners said Thursday.

Maxine Clough, vice-president of the strata at 1675 Hornby, said the building’s insurance broker has been trying to find replacement insurance but has been rejected by eight insurance companies on the grounds of increased risk. A medical marijuana dispensary is opening Saturday in one of the building’s ground floor retail units.

If the broker manages to get insurance, he has been told that the deductible for the building could increase from $5,000 to as much as $10,000 or $20,000.

Reading from a letter her insurance broker sent to the city, Clough said:

“We have been advised by Canadian Northern Shield that once the marijuana dispensary opens, they would be cancelling the policy (and) refunding the unearned premium. This is not the type of risk they wish to insure.”

Canadian Northern Shield did not respond Thursday to a request for an interview.

Clough has gathered about 150 names on a petition against the medical marijuana dispensary, which is in a unit that is part of the strata title.

“We are not against medical marijuana,” she said. “I wish they would licence it, regulate it, tax it, and get it into commercial areas. We don’t want this dispensary in our building. We don’t think it is the proper place for it.”

Clough said the medical marijuana dispensary would be close to the seawall and close to a Montessori school. She’s also worried about potential odours because the retail space uses the same ventilation system as the rest of the building.

Clough said the insurance that’s being cancelled includes coverage for third-party liability as well as fire, water and other damage.

Clough said the “owner of the unit was sent a letter advising him” of the cancellation of the building’s insurance.

“He has totally ignored it,” she said.

The Vancouver Sun left a message with the person Clough said was the owner of the building. He did not return the call by deadline.

Ryan Williams is the operator of Canada Bliss Herbal Society, which plans to open the 400 sq. ft store Saturday in Clough’s building. He said he’s opening there because it was one of the few spots he could find that was willing to rent to a medical marijuana operation.

“We found a landlord that was into our cause and supports us and was OK with the use,” he said.

Williams said he has a three-year lease with an option to renew. There will be no smoking room on site. He said he understands that people are opposed to what he is doing. Residents, he said, will be treated with the ”utmost respect and courtesy.

“I have no ill feeling to the neighbours,” he said.

“Hopefully we get the chance to win them over — show them that we are purely medical not recreational. It is a place for them to come get their medicine so they can use it at home. It’s not a place for people to hang out.”

Coun. Kerry Jang said there are now an estimated 80 medical marijuana dispensaries in Vancouver. For years, he said, the city had six dispensaries. But in the last year, the number has increased dramatically by a factor of more than 12.

From the city’s point of view, it is caught between conflicting federal laws. Last year, Ottawa passed a new law allowing only certain commercial growers to produce and sell medical marijuana. A constitutional challenge in Federal Court by patients has put parts of the law on hold. A judge ruled that patients licensed to grow their own pot under previous rules would be allowed to continue until a decision is made in the court challenge.

“What we’re seeing in Vancouver is that a lot of the owners of pot shops are clearly forcing the issue on the federal government,” he said.

In effect, they’re saying, “We’re here, we’re open, legalize us because you can’t get rid of us.’”

As a city, he said, Vancouver is limited in what it can do.

“I’ve asked our staff to create some land-use bylaws to help regulate the location and number of marijuana shops in Vancouver,” Jang said.

The model proposed to staff includes rules similar to those around pharmacies that dispense methadone for heroin addicts. They’re strictly regulated with clear land-use rules about how far they have to be from schools, community centres and neighbourhood houses.

He hopes that draft bylaws will be presented to council within a few months.

“Our goal is to find a way that we can regulate the number and location of shops that allows reasonable access to legitimate users and takes away the harms caused by trafficking or marketing.”

If there are complaints about how a marijuana dispensary is operating, police respond, Jang said.

“We have a zero tolerance of trafficking to kids or minors,” he said.

“We have raided a number of these places. We have shut down at least five shops that I’m aware of. We’ll continue to do that. As soon as we get a complaint, we’re there.”

Some medical marijuana dispensaries take out a business licence for something other than selling marijuana, such as books or art, Jang said.

Others don’t have a licence and when they’re visited by City of Vancouver staff, often as a result of a complaint, they’ll say, ‘Give us a licence.” But the city can’t do that, Jang said, for something that is technically illegal.

Williams said he does not have a business licence.

kevingriffin@vancouversun.com

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