Following a nearly three-year wait, Burb Cannabis was finally able to open its new location near the University of British Columbia on Friday, February 23.
The new store, at 5784 University Blvd., is located just outside campus boundaries but represents the closest cannabis store to the University.
The application for the location had received pushback from some in the community who argued such a store didn’t fit the neighbourhood and would put students at risk. However, a Metro Vancouver committee voted to approve the application earlier this month, sending it to the MVRD Board for the final decision.
BC Premier David Eby, when he was still the BC Attorney General, was among those who spoke out against the location at the time.
However, the UBC student union was supportive, with Alma Mater Society president Eshana Bhangu noting that there are multiple liquor stores close to campus that face no such community concerns.
A small handful of local media organizations attended the grand opening, with the Vancouver Sun reporting that John Kaye, co-founder and CEO of Burb, welcomed a gathered crowd, saying, “Let’s cut the ribbon, let’s get high.”
This is the final store Burb can currently open in BC. The province has a cap of eight stores per owner, although it is currently considering raising that to some degree.
Kaye tells StratCann he’s supportive of raising the cap, especially since the BC government’s own BC Cannabis Stores are not capped in the same way.
“We’re very supportive of raising the current eight store cap in BC, and feel the new cap should be 16. There are 36 BC Cannabis Stores. How is that fair?”
The new store will operate Monday through Saturday from 9am to 11pm, and Sunday from 10am to 10pm.
“Our focus is on offering the best menu possible, with exclusive products you’ll only find at Burb, such the Jellee hand-rolled hash-holes, Book Club Exclusives, and limited run merchandise and accessories,” stated Peter Pittson, general manager at Burb UBC and Co-Founder of Book Club, a cannabis community and products company.
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