On the heels of a complaint and an investigation last week, Island Health is now ordering Victoria marijuana dispensaries to stop making and selling cannabis food products.
James Whitehead, owner of Medijuana Dispensary on Gorge Road says his store was forced to remove and dispose of all edible cannabis products and he was told all dispensaries in Victoria would come under the same scrutiny. "This complaint seems to have triggered the enforcement arm of VIHA and as I understand it that's it. This is going to come down to members of the public making a strong argument for why edibles should exist."
A notice posted at Whiteheads store, indicates Island Health is banning the sale of edible cannabis because cannabis is not recognized as a food ingredient in the Food and Drugs Act.
Island Health has not banned the sale of pills or oils.
The city of Victoria also announced this week they will be cracking down on dispensaries who have not applied for business licence and re zoning.
As of Friday, 33 marijuana businesses had applied for a business licence, which costs $5,000, and 23 had applied for rezoning, which costs $7,500.