As if the 80 or so dispensaries in Vancouver, British Columbia, violating federal law don’t have enough to worry about, they apparently won’t be able to advertise on the radio going forward.
Health Canada sent a letter to a radio station in the city, telling it to refrain from advertising marijuana, The Canadian Press reported. The letter also says the station should not “encourage Canadians to participate in illegal activities” that could put listeners at risk of prosecution.
The agency told the station that it could be fined because a radio host “directed people to visit a Vancouver marijuana dispensary” on May 12, according to the article.
The letter also was sent to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission and the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.
While dispensaries are illegal in Canada – registered patients must obtain medical marijuana directly from one of the country’s 23 licensed producers/processors via the mail – Vancouver city officials have told the federal government they won’t work to shutter storefronts selling medical cannabis.
Lawmakers in Victoria, British Columbia, also have started drafting bylaws to regulate the city’s dispensaries.
Those in support of the dispensaries have said forcing patients to buy from only 23 outlets nationwide increases prices and limits product diversity.
