Vancouver found itself facing a fight on two fronts Tuesday in its efforts to regulate and license marijuana shops.
On one hand, the federal government increased its opposition to the city's plans and expressly told the Vancouver Police Department it should to enforce Canada's drug laws.
On the other, pot activists who oppose proposed city conditions vowed to fight if they come into effect. The proposals include $30,000 licensing fees and closing shops near schools and community centres.
Caught between the two is Mayor Gregor Robertson's city council, which in a near-unanimous vote on Wednesday agreed to send to public hearing the plan to amend licensing and zoning bylaws to permit marijuana shops in most commercial districts.
They did so after city manager Penny Ballem, supported by the police department and the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, said the city had to do something to rein in a wild west of unregulated, unlicensed pot shops.
Only Non-Partisan Association Coun. Elizabeth Ball disagreed, saying as a lawmaker she can't support a municipal plan that would legitimize something that is illegal across Canada.
Two federal ministers, Health Minister Rona Ambrose and Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney, on Wednesday sent a second stern warning, this one to all council members and the Vancouver police saying authorities should crack down rather than regulate, and therefore legitimize, pot dispensaries.
The ministers said the city's action could lead to the tripling of youth use of a substance that brings "serious and lasting" health harm to young people.
"Storefront sales of marijuana are illegal and under our government will remain illegal," Ambrose and Blaney stated.
But pot activists disagreed with regulation and licensing, and plans to shut down as many as two-thirds of the 80 illegal dispensaries now in operation.
"As activists, we will mobilize. We will not let one dispensary get shut down. If they try that type of enforcement, we will be there en masse," said Neil Magnuson, a member of the United Cannabis Activists Network. "This is harming dispensary owners. Our city is now actively going to harm its citizens through these bylaws, citizens who have harmed no one."
Magnuson, who said he also acted for Marc Emery's Cannabis Culture and was the master of ceremonies at the recent 4/20 pot fair downtown, said pot dispensers shouldn't have to be vetted by police or be prevented from opening stores near schools.
"Cannabis dispensaries close to schools do not harm the children in those schools," he said. "We have liquor stores, pharmacies, store that sell tobacco close to schools. Cannabis leaves in windows do not harm children."
Ballem and Supt. Mike Porteous of the Vancouver police said they have not seen the most recent letters from Ottawa.
The diametrically opposed views puts Vancouver in a fight over legalization of marijuana that other Canadian cities have chosen to ignore.
But Dr. Patricia Daly, the chief medical officer for the health authority, said Vancouver is only trying to get a grip on a problem exacerbated by the federal government's change last year to medical marijuana laws.
"I think the federal government needs to acknowledge their mishandling of the medical marijuana issue has led to the growth in outlets," she said. "Taking a regulatory approach is actually the best way to reduce the harm associated with marijuana use. We know that trying to shut these places down will just drive distribution of marijuana back into the illegal market and organized crime. ... The best way to reduce the harm is to legalize the substance and strictly regulate it."
Daly received a separate letter from Health Canada spelling out the intent and details of the federal regime under the federal government's Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations.
The letters mark an acceleration of the political pressure on Vancouver after the city announced last week it will consider a plan to strictly regulate the industry.
The Ottawa-Vancouver battle is in some ways a proxy for a larger political battlefield, given the federal election scheduled for October.
The Conservatives have gone after Liberal leader Justin Trudeau's promise to legalize marijuana if his party wins power. The New Democratic Party, meanwhile, has called for decriminalization of simple possession.
The Liberals and NDP have sided with Vancouver, saying regulation is a reasonable way to deal with the "chaos" of the status quo.
"The Conservatives are playing politics and doubling down on a failed war-on-drugs approach, at the same time that they've made medical marijuana increasingly difficult and expensive for chronically ill patients to access," said Murray Rankin, the New Democratic Party MP for Victoria.
Liberal MP Hedy Fry, who represents Vancouver Centre, also accused the federal government of bungling the regulation of the industry.
"Licensing and regulating of medical marijuana dispensaries is the city trying to bring order to the chaos of a system badly mismanaged by" Ambrose, Fry said.
The city, which has opposed the Harper government's restrictive views over drug policy in the past, appeared not to be concerned about the renewed pressure. Instead, Ballem, a practising doctor, told council there is clear medical evidence that marijuana is useful to patients dealing with cancer.
Some council members were uneasy with the activist stance the city is taking. But they cannot comment fully on the issue under the city's procedure bylaw until after the public hearing.
But they posed questions to Ballem that they say need to be answered either before or at the hearing. Those include the mechanics of how the city would ensure rules of operation.
Coun. Kerry Jang asked if the city will "grandfather" shops that have existed for years, especially one established long before a private school opened nearby. Coun. Melissa De Genova asked how the city will deal with a new pot shop that has opened across from another school.
Ballem said the city doesn't intend to grandfather any shops and instead will use a ranking system to keep only those that meet the proposed regulations. The city has already struck out against new shops trying to gain a foothold, especially in areas where they won't be allowed under the new rules.
"We've dispatched our enforcement people to go in and tell the operator this is not going to be permitted to stay and that you need to close down. We issue tickets, we issue orders, and the next step is to take them to court," Ballem told reporters.
The letters sent Tuesday suggest Ottawa's tough stand is justified for public health reasons.
While Ottawa was forced to regulate the medical marijuana industry due to court judgments, the federal government says sales must be "done in a controlled fashion to protect public health and safety," the Ambrose-Blaney letter stated.
The medical evidence is "irrefutable" that pot-smoking youth face "increased risks of developing mental health issues, including psychosis and schizophrenia," the ministers stated. They cited a 2012 survey indicating that while 20 per cent of youth said they smoked marijuana that year, 70 per cent drank alcohol, described as "a fully regulated substance" by the ministers.
"Legitimizing and normalizing marijuana could mean more than tripling its use by youth," the ministers alleged.
