The owner of a hemp store in Langley, British Columbia, has finally given in to the pressure that city council was placing on him to dump his hemp stock. Randy Caine was recently fined for being in violation of Langley zoning laws and had his business license revoked. According to city zoning, hemp products can only be sold in a local mall, and Caine’s store was elsewhere. Caine subsequently complained that many of his neighbor’s have not been fined for selling hemp products, but he has since adopted a much more cooperative tone. As the Langley Advance reports:

Owner Randy Caine said once he and the City came to an agreement that he would not sell hemp products, City staff assisted him in reapplying, and the licence was quickly approved.

“I was dealt with really fairly,” the long-time Langley resident said.

He came up against City zoning that didn’t allow hemp products to be sold anywhere other than Willowbrook Shopping Centre. The City issued a $100 bylaw infraction ticket, but has since voided it.

Despites Caine now plans to speak with other business owners and lobby city council to change their zoning laws. However, Caine’s statement about being treated fairly is curious. Previously, Caine pointed out how only he was being reprimanded for selling hemp products while his neighbors were note. Similarly, there seems to be bad blood between Caine and the mayor of Langley. Perhaps, however, Caine is maintaining a diplomatic front in anticipation of working within the system to have the zoning laws changed.

A small business owner in Langley, British Columbia, seems to be facing discrimination from the local city council. Randy Caine, owner of Hempyz, is being told that because of zoning laws, he has to either close up shop or stop selling hemp products. Although Hempyz doesn’t sell parafernalia and there are other stores in the neighborhood that sell hemp products, the city is only going after Caine. Given Caine’s history, moreover, it seems like Caine might be being targeted by personal enemies in local government. The Langley Advance reports:

Stop selling hemp products.

That’s the solution offered gift and novelty store owner Randy Caine if he wants to keep Hempyz open downtown.
[...]
Caine’s new store at 20505 Fraser Hwy. sells a few bath and body items containing hemp, such as lotion.
[...]
Under City zoning, a hemp store is not allowed anywhere except Willowbrook Mall (C-3 zoning) and any store that sells any hemp item falls under the hemp category.

“Yet my neighbours carry it,” Caine said of hemp products being sold at other downtown businesses not in the C-3 zoning.
[...]
The City has no plans to go after other retailers that are voilating their zoning by selling hemp products. Administrator Francis Cheung said City council has to decide how the municipality dedicates it resources.

Caine, however, has a political history, and it seems that he might be being punished for it. Caine is a former Marijuana Party Candidate and activist, so he might have made political enemies (including the mayor of Langley). After all, despite Caine’s personal past, Hempyz does not sell any parafernalia. As The Province reported earlier:

Hempyz does not sell materials used for smoking marijuana, such as bongs or pipes.

Langley City staff denied Hempyz a business licence on Oct. 23, based on the fact that local zoning does not allow hemp sales.

Caine, who lost a seven-year court battle in 2000 trying to have Canada’s marijuana laws ruled unconstitutional, said he was lectured by Mayor Peter Fassbender the same day.

It seems kind of silly that zoning laws would specifically pertain to hemp products. I suspect that the wording of those zoning regulations is somewhat outdated and were intended to regulate the sale of marijuana parafernalia, and not products made from industrial hemp.

Nevertheless, the story underscores the trouble with advocating for both hemp and marijuana reform at the same time. Caine is selling products made from industrial hemp, but has a history that’s intertwined with marijuana advocacy. Now the enemies he might have made through his political past are taking it out on Caine’s current sale of hemp products. The result is that there’s going to be fewer hemp products available to consumers, and less of a demand for Caine’s suppliers to fill. Everyone loses.

Am I saying that Caine has set back the hemp industry in his community? Absolutley not! If anyone has, its the Langley city council. But they might be doing so because of animosities they harbor over Caine’s past marijuana activism. And that might be a lesson for current and future hemp activist: pick you battles more carefully, focus on one thing at a time (hemp, not marijuana), and distance yourself from anything that enemies can use to discredit you.