Vancouver cannabis store owner concerned for staff safety after attempted robbery – BC | 24CA News
The proprietor of an East Vancouver hashish retailer says he’s involved for the security of his workers after a person armed with a gun tried to rob his retailer Monday evening.
This is the primary time Kingsway Cannabis has been hit by an tried theft, in line with the shop’s proprietor Charles Variboff.
“When someone has a gun that is really scary, you have no idea if it is a real gun or a replica or a starter pistol or a bb gun,” Variboff instructed Global News.
Luckily, nobody was injured and the suspect left empty-handed however Variboff is frightened this would possibly occur once more.
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The retailer’s home windows are coated by opaque movie with no method to see in or out and Variboff says his workers are left feeling susceptible to robberies.
“the last thing you want to do is wake up in the morning and go to work and think you are going to end up hurt, or worse, end up in a body bag,” Variboff mentioned.
When hashish was first legalized in B.C. it was a requirement to dam the view of any merchandise or gross sales from outdoors however that requirement was dropped in 2020, no less than within the province, after regular pushback from the business.
“Especially when there’s such a rise in violence around here a couple of years ago, there was a murder close by at Tatlow Park. And with the constant things happening at cannabis stores around the city we want to be able to protect our employees,” in line with Kayley Nelson, General Manager of Evergreen Cannabis.
However, it’s nonetheless a federal requirement to dam the sight of merchandise in pot outlets to guard youngsters.
“For some reason Health Canada doesn’t like the idea of children being able to see cannabis products but there’s a lot of other things going on. Like there’s constant advertisements for gambling, for drinking. And although we don’t want young kids consuming cannabis, I think there’s a lot worse things for kids to be able to see,” Nelson added.
“Our owner has been really passionate about safety and just not agreeing with what Health Canada thinks is the best in terms of the safety issues. Because, the city was really lobbying for no window coverings in the beginning. And Health Canada just completely wrote that off,” Nelson defined.
“We have thought about revisiting our current window coverings, but I know the Cannabis Act was up for review this year and we didn’t want to do anything to quickly.”
Vancouver Police are investigating the tried theft, telling Global News anytime a deadly weapon is used is regarding.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
