Photo: Chelsea Powrie

Flipping through one of multiple binders of one-page, signed petitions numbering in the hundreds, Christopher Dawe, the owner of TPD Health Boutique points out the signatories are mostly seniors.

“At this point I have a moral and ethical obligation to stay here,” Dawe said.

Dawe owns and operates the marijuana dispensary on Front Street facing the prospect of closing its doors if a bylaw before city council Tuesday passes, banning cannabis storefronts from Front and Main streets downtown.

Anthony Haddad, city director of development services, told Castanet News Dawe’s business licence was revoked in late October.

Dawe disputes the $1,900 fine Haddad said the business accrued over two days in November.

It was difficult for Dawe to find a petition signatory from someone under 50 years old amongst the forms pleading council allow the Front Street shop to remain open.  

The signatures of support have come mostly from customers who are “almost exclusively” 50 or older, Dawe said, explaining he has built a relationship with many of his clientele helping guide them through the best use of cannabis as a medicine, some as old as 97.

“(City council) needs to understand there’s a world of difference between recreational weed and medicinal cannabis,” Dawe said.

Dawe said he tests all his products for safety, and noted displays at the store are predominantly for creams and oils, adding TPD “is not a dope shop.”

“The city doesn’t need weed shops. The city needs a place where the elders of the community can come and get the medicine they need,” Dawe said.

Despite the fact that the city’s own downtown business group, the Downtown Penticton Association, is opposing the ban on retail cannabis on Main and Front streets, city staff are recommending the bylaw include language that keeps the storefronts out.

It's discriminating against his business, according to Dawe.

“The city is going to focus on the wants and opinions of uneducated people,” he said. "They should be focusing on the needs of the community as a whole. If one more person in our community overdoses because they had easier access to opioids than cannabis, the city only has itself to blame."

Dawe said he has been denied a delegation to speak on the store’s behalf, despite the bylaw directly affecting the businesses’ future, and has been deferred to speak at the public hearing. However, Dawe said Mayor John Vassilaki is visiting TPD on Monday.

“I would like for the mayor and city council to know that there’s no way this shop could diminish the retail value of what Front Street has to offer,” Dawe said.

Penticton's policy on retail cannabis is before city council Tuesday with a public hearing at City Hall at 6 p.m.