Only 1 pot shop ready for legal sales — but 173 in the works, says safety minister

You can smoke it if you've got it on Wednesday. But it might be a few months until you can purchase legal pot in B.C. at a government-approved shop, according to Solicitor General and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth.

Recreational cannabis will be legal on Oct. 17. According to Farnworth, there are 173 dispensary applications pending approval in B.C.

Sixty-two of those applications have passed the first stage of approval by the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch and are now under review by local governments.

The ministry conducts background checks and security checks to make sure no one connected to a dispensary application has ties to a criminal organization, said Farnworth. Once they have cleared that process, it is up to municipal governments to decide if they can operate.

Thirty-five of those 62 are in jurisdictions where local or Indigenous governments have already indicated they are willing to start the approval process, said Farnworth.

Until those brick-and-mortar stores are up and running, people can purchase their pot online. Farnworth said time has been spent to ensure the website will not crash when it opens for business. There will also be one government-approved store open in Kamloops on Oct. 17.

"Legislation is all in place," said Farnworth. "Now all we need is Wednesday to get here."

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