The S&M Sweet Shoppe in Gibsons found that out the hard way.
The cannabis dispensary, which mostly sells edibles to medical patients thought they were going to get their one-year temporary use permit from the town after elected official voted in favour of issuing the permit on January 8th.
However, Mayor Bill Beamish brought the issue back to council this week and believes it will be beneficial to reach out to their lawyers and insurance company before handing out the permit.
“I had concerns at the night of the council meeting and I’ve thought more about those concerns,” said Beamish.
“I’m concerned if someone got sick or if a child had gotten injured as a result of using what has the appearance of candy in some cases. We would have liability for that because we authorized it (S&M) as a business.”
Michelle Sikora, one of the owners of the dispensary says she’s shocked to learn about this decision.
She says one of the biggest concerns from the town’s perspective was that the store could attract children, and in her opinion, they addressed that issue quickly.
“Right away, we went and got covers for our windows after that council meeting on January 8th,” said Sikora.
“The windows have been covered up, so you don’t see the lollipops. You can kind of see a shape, but you know know what it is. And from the roadway, all of our Christmas lights have been removed. So we are trying to work with the town.”
Edibles are expected to become legal on October 17th and once that’s in place Sikora says they intend on applying for a provincial license.
Two other dispensaries in Gibsons have been given their temporary use permit.
Those businesses are different compared to S&M as they sell mostly dried products and are in the process of applying for a provincial license.
