The City of Victoria has issued its first official business licence to a marijuana dispensary.
Farmacy, a cannabis retailer on Scott Street, is the first to receive a business licence under the city’s new regulations for dispensaries, which took effect last fall.
The city says the property was already subject to an existing land-use contract and did not have to be rezoned, and a further inspection of the business confirmed it is complying with all regulations.
In order to obtain a licence, businesses must meet a variety of requirements including no sales to people under 19, no consumption of pot on the premises and stores must only open between the hours of 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Licences also require dispensaries to install video surveillance, air filtration systems to minimize odour impacts and stores must have a security plan.
The city says Farmacy is the only dispensary operating on a land-use contract, and all other existing cannabis retailers will have to go through a rezoning process as well as obtain a licence to operate.
Trees Dispensary on Yates Street is the only pot dispensary in the city to be successfully rezoned under the city’s new regulations.
The city says 26 applicants are currently in the midst of the rezoning process.
