To our local MP, MLA, and cannabis inspectors and regulators,
As the manager of a B.C. dispensary, we’ve appreciated the provincial change to allow some window coverings at our dispensary to come down. However, we feel as though more could be modified or changed to alleviate certain concerns, challenges, or double standards.
When walking into many gas stations or accessory shops here in Creston, you are able to see pipes, bongs, and grinders in plain view to all who enter, including children. Parents are allowed to take their children into B.C. liquor stores, cold beer and wine shops, and breweries with controlled liquor open for all to view. However, here at Jimmy’s Cannabis Shop, we must ask a new single mother with a baby in her arms to please exit the shop or leave her baby inside a hot car, while trying to purchase our licensed cannabis products. We must ask parents to leave their small children unattended outside our busy parking area if they attempt to enter the shop with them. We had countless parents incredibly frustrated by their inability to purchase cannabis products while caring for their children.
We are equally concerned about the safety of our fellow budtenders (some from different provinces). On the news recently, we saw a licensed cannabis shop in Calgary was robbed by multiple persons when they simply entered the shop undetected, thanks in part to window coverings concealing their activities inside. We fear this will continue to happen until we are able to change the policies to allow window coverings to come down entirely.
In summary, we ask that minors, accompanied by their parents or guardians, be allowed in our shops much like they are allowed in any liquor agency. We also ask that window covering regulations be removed completely from the federal law in order to better ensure safety of customers and staff alike. We in the cannabis sector would like equality in terms of policy with other controlled substance retailers.
We really appreciate your energy and attention to these concerns brought to us by customers, co-workers, and fellow professionals within the industry. We also understand these policies, laws, and regulations are brand new as of 2018, with some being even more recent than that.
Darby Marcellus, General Manager of Jimmy’s Cannabis Shop, Creston