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Island pot smokers celebrate; shops defy warning to close

Marijuana users, relieved about legalization, pour into Victoria’s illegal dispensaries
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Alice Valante hands out free marijuana seeds during a rally in front of the B.C. legislature on Wednesday.

When Tsanda Rozales walked down the street on day one of legalization, the first thing she smelled was cannabis.

“And it was just like: ‘Wow. This is going to be the normal lifestyle now,’ ” she said. “It’s pretty cool.”

But a little later, standing on the sidewalk outside Lotusland Cannabis Club on Douglas Street, Rozales hesitated before admitting she was about to buy marijuana.

“I’m definitely excited, but it’s going to take a little bit to get used to not being shy about cannabis,” she said.

> More cannabis coverage at timescolonist.com/more

Edmontonians Barry Michael and his son Liam left the cannabis retail store with a variety of pot in a paper bag.

“My son doesn’t touch it, and old Pop’s a pothead,” Michael said.

Although Canada has legalized and is now regulating marijuana for recreational use, buying it still feels a bit awkward, he said.

“It’s still going to take a while for people to be able to go somewhere and have a smoke and not feel stigmatized,” he said.

“Being discreet and keeping it away from people who are offended is going to be a challenge for everybody — potheads and non-potheads alike.”

It was business as usual at many of Victoria’s illegal cannabis retail stores Wednesday, despite a government warning to close their doors if they want a government licence to operate a retail outlet.

A number of stores did close Tuesday night, packing up their product, boarding up windows and laying off staff.

But there was no shortage of cannabis for those who wanted to buy it. Customers streamed into Lotusland, but the mood was less than celebratory.

“I didn’t expect it to be like Cheech and Chong,” Michael said.

Still, he’s relieved he doesn’t have to worry if he has a small amount of marijuana on his person and gets pulled over by a police officer who smells weed.

He expects he’ll have to do a sobriety test, but he has no intention of getting stoned and getting behind the wheel.

At the B.C. legislature, more than 200 people gathered to both celebrate legalization and protest the new rules around cannabis use.

Cannabis activist Dana Larsen, who handed out free joints and cannabis seeds in honour of the occasion, called it a historic day for the country.

“This is part of a global revolution,” he told the crowd, as clouds of marijuana smoke drifted over the legislature lawn.

“What’s started here in Canada is going to spread all over the Earth to every country, every city and every town on the planet.”

Larsen objected, however, to the “harsh” penalties under B.C.’s Cannabis Control and Licensing Act.

He noted, for example, that people are allowed to grow up to four cannabis plants per household, but could face a fine of up to $5,000 and three months in jail if the plants are visible from public spaces off the property.

“That is absurd,” he said, adding that pro-cannabis activists still have a lot of work to do.

“We need to keep pushing, keep fighting, keep standing up, keep resisting and keep breaking these laws every day, openly and transparently. We will not obey these unjust laws.”

Ted Smith, Victoria’s own marijuana crusader who challenged Canada’s medical marijuana laws all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, expressed mixed feelings about the way legalization is taking place.

Outside the Cannabis Buyers Club on Johnson Street, the Victoria council candidate said he expected the club would get raided and shut down by the government.

“My head is very happy. It’s like: ‘Yay, we won.’ But my guts are turning over. Many patients today are worried for their lives and their health,” he said.

“All the dispensaries they were relying on for medicine have taken it down or will in the near future.”

Smith thought the club would be busier on the day marijuana became legal.

“I assume as things settle and people realize we’re open, we’ll get much busier. We’ll see how it goes.”

Although Ocean Grown Medicinal Society on Cook Street planned to stay open, the business had a last minute change of heart acting on the advice of its lawyer. The business will remain open for educational purposes but will not sell any product, staff said.

“Our clients are worried they won’t be able to sleep or manage pain,” said an employee. “I have a lot of respect for the places that are staying open.”

In Centennial Square, Blaize Skye took a toke from a big green bong. The 20-year-old said she was more worried now about being “busted for passing a kid a doobie.”

Robert McDonald sat with two friends in the square openly smoking a joint. “I’m feeling relief,” he exhaled. “I can smoke a joint in the park.”

“Pearl” walked out of Trees Dispensary on North Park with a little package of indica joints in a paper bag. The 50-something mother said didn’t want her name in the newspaper in case her children find out she buys dope.

“It’s pretty exciting marijuana is legal,” she said. “I guess it’s just that it’s open and out there. It’s always been kind of hidden but it doesn’t have to be anymore. The stigma is gone.”

Pearl started smoking it a few years ago to help her sleep. “I smoke indica because it puts you in da couch,” she said.

Until stores are licensed, people can legally buy recreational pot through a provincial government website, bccannabisstores.com.

Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said the site had processed 4,000 transactions by noon Wednesday. By late afternoon, many of the cheaper strains had sold out.

”There’s clearly been considerable interest,” he said.

For stores that have shut down in hopes of getting a licence, Farnworth was unable to provide a definitive timeline for how long the process will take.

He said most of the illegal dispensaries are in Vancouver and Victoria. “Both those communities have done a lot of work already in terms of the kinds of rules and regulations they want in place for when legalization happens,” he said. “My expectation is that once the municipal elections are over, they will start to move quickly to deal with the issue.”

ldickson@timescolonist.com

lkines@timescolonist.com