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2 Vancouver businesses open city’s first legal pot shops

Evergreen Cannabis Society and City Cannabis Co. have received all needed licenses to operate
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Evergreen Cannabis Society in Kitsilano (Black Press Media files)

Nearly three months since Canada officially legalized cannabis, dozens flocked to one of Vancouver’s first government-approved pot shops Saturday.

Evergreen Cannabis Society made city history in December as the first business to gain both provincial and city retail dispensary licenses for its operation within the Lower Mainland.

Co-founder Mike Babins was forced to postpone the re-opening until the new year after holiday closures delayed the final bits of paperwork.

Since then, City Cannabis Co. has also received licenses for two locations in downtown Vancouver. Its Fraser Street location hosted a surprise soft-launch Friday evening and into Saturday morning.

A number of illegal dispensaries remain open in Vancouver despite a court order last month affirming the city’s authority to shut them down.

WATCH: ‘A little odd’: B.C.’s biggest city celebrates cannabis without a legal store

The approval of Evergreen and City Cannabis bring the total number of licensed marijuana shops in B.C. to six, with the others in Kamloops, Kimberley and Pouce Coupe.

With a file from The Canadian Press


@ashwadhwani
ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca

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About the Author: Ashley Wadhwani-Smith

I began my journalistic journey at Black Press Media as a community reporter in my hometown of Maple Ridge, B.C.
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