VANCOUVER—It is “highly unlikely” that Vancouver police will be cracking down on illegal dispensaries in the days immediately following cannabis legalization, according toChief Adam Palmer.

Palmer’s comments came at a news conference on Monday, just two days ahead of one of the biggest shifts in public policy Canada has seen in decades.

“I’m not aware of (any Canadian police force) planning any big raids on the day and you’re certainly not going to see it around here,” Palmer said. “Anything could happen, anything is possible in this world. I never like to say ‘always’ or ‘never.’ But I’d say it’s highly unlikely.”

The new, legal cannabis rules explicitly prohibits both the unlicensed distribution of cannabis and the distribution of cannabis obtained from unauthorized sources — which in British Columbia is any source outside the provincial government.

This could mean that opportunities remain for dispensaries — all of which are technically illegal under current law — to turn a profit even once recreational cannabis is legalized.

Several dispensaries to which StarMetro spoke Monday said they plan to remain open through Oct. 17 and beyond, with one even pointing to Palmer’s comments as a reason they had decided not to close.

Enforcement against unlicensed marijuana stores will primarily fall to provinces, which are using inspectors to levy fines as they do with illegal liquor sellers. But Palmer said police and city officials will work with provinces on the issue.

Provinces are also responsible for approving retail licences and their speed at doing so varies. Alberta will have 17 licensed stores selling weed on Wednesday, while B.C. will only have one and Ontario will have none.

Dozens of illegal pot stores have operated for years in Vancouver, Victoria and other municipalities in B.C. Many are planning to scale back because they don’t want to jeopardize their chances of getting a provincial licence, Palmer said.

Vancouver marijuana retailer Eggs Canna has slashed prices by 10 to 50 per cent to sell off its illegal stock. Its four stores will close at the end of the day Wednesday and won’t reopen until they hold licences, said Stefana Herman, a member of the chain's corporate team.

“We are trying to actually do this legally, cleanly and correctly,” she said.

“I appreciate what the police chiefs are saying and I know that there are a lot of dispensaries in the city that are going to continue to actually stay open ... without the appropriate business licences, but nobody else in the city gets to run that way.”

Vancouver police have long chosen to avoid cracking down on illegal dispensaries unless they are suspected of organized crime connections or selling to minors. This is in contrast with Toronto police, which carried out sweeping raids of pot shops in 2016.

Dispensaries found more underground ways to operate in Toronto and many accept that they will have to close until spring when Ontario launches its licence application portal, said Ian Dawkins, president of the Canadian Commerce Association of Canada.

But in B.C., retail outlets are well-known in their communities and serve loyal customers who come in regularly, he said.

“You’re talking about shutting down a cash-flowing, operating business with maybe a dozen employees. It’s a whole different ball of wax,” he said. “Should people close their doors? If they do, what if that puts them out of business?”

But Palmer — who spoke not only as Vancouver chief but as the president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police — said he’s not concerned about Canadians losing access to cannabis. Statistics Canada found 16 per cent of Canadians, or 4.6 million people, have consumed marijuana in the last three months, the chief said. And for decades those people have been obtaining that cannabis from the illicit market. Transitioning from an almost entirely black market industry to a regulated storefront market stocked with government product is “going to take some time,” he said.

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In the meantime, “the police are not sitting back in the wings chomping at the bit to all of a sudden go out and start raiding stores,” he said. “We're going to take a practical approach to it, let it play out so we can move into a civilized, legalized regime.”

The timeline on when more stores will open up, however, remains unclear.

During a separate Monday news conference, B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said further legal cannabis stores — both publicly and privately owned and operated — will likely be opening across the province in the coming months. He said the government’s online cannabis service will be in full operation Wednesday.

“What we are doing is putting in place a legal cannabis regime,” Farnworth said. “I’ve said it is not going to happen overnight and it is going to take some time.”

Farnworth said he expects some cannabis dispensaries to close by Wednesday in efforts to improve their chances for obtaining licences later. But he acknowledged others may stay open in the meantime, despite the impact it might have on future licensing approval.

Farnworth sidestepped concerns customers may have about shopping at cannabis stores that aren’t officially approved after Wednesday, saying that enforcement will be a local issue. But in sketching out a future for that enforcement, Farnworth painted a picture similar to what Palmer would later describe: that there will be something of an unofficial grace period as the legal recreational market slowly grows in scope.

“The 18th of October in many ways is going to look a lot like today,” he said. “As we’ve said, there will be enforcement in place, but I’ve said a number of times now that enforcement is going to take place as more and more legal stores open. Then enforcement will ramp up.”

The government has received 173 applications for cannabis retail outlets, Farnworth said. So far, 62 have been reviewed and submitted to local governments for further review and 35 of those are in the latter stages of the approval process, he said.

A statement provided to StarMetro by the City of Vancouver said that to date, the city has received seven licensing applications for review, though it is not expected that any of the applicants will have approval in time to open for day one of legalization. The city could not provide a timeline on when the first applicant might be given the go-ahead.

Farnworth advised owners of cannabis retail outlets which stay open after Wednesday without approval to “start to abide by (the) rules.”

“The sooner they move to a legal system, the better it is.”

With files from The Canadian Press

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