At a hearing during the City of Grand Forks council meeting on Monday night, council opted to deny the application for the issuance of a business licence to Herbivore Cannabis Inc. based on the grounds that it is publicly conducting an illegal business.
During discussions, public health concerns and issues with the location of the business were raised by councillors. However, the fact remains the city’s official reasoning provided to owner Teresa Taylor is that she was outwardly operating a business that is, at this time, illegal, and the city refuses to condone that with a business licence.
But it bears reminding that there is another dispensary in Grand Forks, one that has operated for years, with a licence. It operates a cannabis menu on its website, and during the winter had thousands of dollars of cannabis product seized from its physical location.
The bottom line is that the city needs to pick a direction and remain consistent. It said in a letter to Taylor that it judges each application “as they come up” and does not compare operations. However, the fact that one dispensary operates with a licence and the other does not is disheartening. Regardless of your feelings on dispensaries, each one needs to be held to the same standards.
Allegations were also made about the role of “the press” (namely, the Gazette) in the denial of the application for a business licence.
During the meeting, Coun. Ross suggested the Gazette has been subjecting members of the gallery “to becoming victims of the press,” and twisting words.
We respectfully disagree with this assertion. We reported what was said, on the record in an interview, and in no way twisted words. This allegation is dangerous as it implies bias and deliberate malice.