A听storefront medical marijuana dispensary opened this week in Squamish.
Bryan Raiser, a former District of Squamish councillor, on Monday opened the 99 North Medical Cannabis Dispensary at 37768 Second Avenue in downtown Squamish, at the corner of Vancouver Street.
The shop offers medical marijuana in various forms, including dried cannabis, oils, edible and topical marijuana, Raiser told The 小蓝视频 in an interview.
He opened the dispensary quietly on Monday, but even then, a few people stopped in to see what it offered. By Monday night Raiser began promoting the shop to his Facebook friends.听
Raiser, who is well known as a community volunteer and leader, is the sole owner and employee of the dispensary, although he plans to add staff soon. Public reaction to the shop has been 鈥渙verwhelmingly supportive and positive,鈥� Raiser said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible. I am very heartened.鈥�
Raiser has operated businesses in the past, but never a storefront, he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very exciting, nerve-wracking and a little scary.鈥�
Customers can obtain medical marijuana with a prescription from their health care practitioner that must be faxed to the dispensary, said Raiser.听
He then calls the doctor鈥檚 office to confirm the prescription before supplying marijuana to the patient, he said.
Alternatively, the dispensary can supply marijuana to patients if they can confirm via documents from their doctor a diagnosis of specific conditions and diseases such as cancer, epilepsy, anxiety, AIDS, arthritis or glaucoma, Raiser said. This would allow the patients with these conditions to obtain marijuana even if their doctors do not specifically prescribe it.
Raiser said he has used medical cannabis since being diagnosed with Chrohn鈥檚 disease in 1997. 鈥淚 became intimately aware of the real benefits of cannabis for managing pain, nausea, muscle spasms, appetite, anxiety and sleep,鈥� he said.
He knows that many others in the community can also benefit from the health benefits of cannabis, 鈥渁nd I am very glad to be providing people with relief,鈥� he said.
Raiser said he has 鈥渘o special permit鈥� from the district to operate a medical marijuana dispensary.
Like the dozens of medical marijuana dispensaries in Vancouver and throughout the province, Raiser said, medical marijuana dispensaries do not receive permission from the municipalities in which they are located.
鈥淲e are operating in a grey area. No dispensary has a business license because the municipalities can鈥檛 give them out,鈥� he said.鈥淲e are in a very bizarre, peculiar moment in history,鈥� Raiser explained. 鈥淲e are going to look back in a couple of years and ask, 鈥榃hat were we thinking?鈥欌��
Raiser said he has had walk-ins, calls and some sales already in his first few days of business. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been good,鈥� he said.
In addition to providing proof from their doctors, customers are asked to sign a strict code of conduct, he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about being a positive part of the community鈥�. no reselling, be respectful, no sharing.鈥�
He also has suppliers sign a contract. 鈥淚 have suppliers who wish to remain nameless, but I have a strict buying policy and I make sure it is all clean and top-quality,鈥� said Raiser, who added that testing is done on the marijuana.
Although he hadn鈥檛 had a visit from RCMP yet as of Wednesday morning, Raiser expects to see a few officers stop in. 鈥淚 expect them to come by and I look forward to having a civil chat. Everyone knows who I am and my commitment to the community. That鈥檚 a big hurdle that I have overcome in my 20 years of community service. It鈥檚 not like a stranger is opening this shop.鈥�
The cannabis dispensary is the first in the Sea to Sky Corridor, said Raiser, who expects many patients will come from Whistler and Pemberton as well as Squamish.
