HEMP RULES UNDER REVIEW

Langley City's anti-hemp bylaw isn't as cut and dried as it used to
be.

Langley City's bylaw restricting the sale of hemp products could soon
go up in smoke.

City council has asked it staff to review the bylaw, in light of an
autumn spat between the municipality and Hempyz, a small downtown
store that sold a few health and beauty products containing hemp,
along with gifts and novelty items emblazoned with pot leaves.

The City initially refused to give owner Randy Caine a business
licence, saying the bylaw only allows products containing hemp - a
plant related to marijuana - to be sold in specifically zoned areas,
including Willowbrook Shopping Centre. But other downtown stores also
sell a few hemp-related items. Hemp and its derivatives can used for
fabric, cosmetics, lotions, paper, fuel, food, and even biodegradable
plastics. It is in the same plant family as marijuana but doesn't
contain pot's active ingredient, THC.

The motion to review the bylaw was a late addition to the Nov. 24
council agenda, and was approved.

It calls for staff, "in light of issues that have arisen in the City
with regard to the sale of products that contain legal hemp," to
review the C1 Downtown Commercial Zoning. Councillor Gayle Martin said
she's glad to see the issue coming back before council.

"I did visit several stores in the downtown that do sell hemp," she
said.

Martin admits she had some mistaken ideas about plant.

"To me, in my mind, hemp was marijuana," she said.

Staff will review the zoning and provide a report to the incoming
council. Caine said he is pleased to see the motion and its particular
wording, using "legal hemp," since many downtown businesses carry hemp
products already. Should the City change its rules, he plans to bring
back his hemp products. He said he has had customers asking about
clothing made from the plant's durable fibre.