Photo: Contributed

October 17, 2018, recreational cannabis will be legal in Canada but don't expect to just walk into a store in Vernon a buy cannabis.  

Here is how it breaks down.

Retailers will only be able to sell cannabis that it purchased through the province. 

Retailers can only purchase cannabis through the province if they have been issued a provincial license. 

Retailers cannot get a provincial license without local government support of a specific application.

Local governments cannot give explicit support for an application until cannabis sales have been regulated through bylaws. 

Apart from issuing temporary use permits, the City of Vernon has not yet set its bylaws around recreational cannabis dispensaries.

So, while, recreational cannabis dispensaries can technically stay open, they will not be allowed to sell a cannabis product. 

That is why, come Oct. 17, 2018, you won't be able to walk into a recreational cannabis dispensary in Vernon and buy cannabis.

To date, the province has only issued one licence to sell recreational cannabis and that was awarded to a store in Kamloops. 

"I think they are making it more difficult than it has to be. I understand that it is a controlled substance and they need to protect the community, but I have never seen an application be controlled the way it is."

According to the operator of one recreational cannabis dispensary in Vernon, who will remain anonymous, the process will leave gaps in service for those who rely on the product. 

"People who are currently accessing in dispensaries will have no facilities to access from," says the dispensary operator. "It is even more poignant to point out that people accessing are by in large accessing for therapeutic purposes, and with no mention of medical licensing, a lot of the products and services that people are currently accessing through these facilities will no be able available. Period." 

The operator has suggested to clients, "Better stock up now. We don't know when it will be for sale again in Vernon."

Adding, "there have been no reliable indications of timelines given for any kind of licensing application around cannabis whether it is retail or production."

According to the City of Vernon, only two recreational cannabis dispensaries have submitted their application to the province, neither of which is one of the 12 dispensaries currently operating in Vernon.

And while there will be some enforcement of the rules after the 17, what that looks like is still unclear. 

"There's been a disproportionate hysteria surrounding the question of cannabis ...so I think the policy should reflect the real statistics behind what are the health a public safety risks."

To the operator, the process feels less like the legalization of cannabis and more like the corporatization of marijuana.