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April is always a big month for marijuana enthusiasts.

It鈥檚, of course, the month where pot smokers and 鈥減otificators鈥� (my word) assemble by the hundreds on the fourth month of the year on the 20^th day to smoke a joint or three.

Yep, it鈥檚 almost 4-20, folks.

This year, it will be at Sunset Beach.

You probably heard that park board chairperson Sarah Kirby-Yung wasn鈥檛 exactly happy with Mayor Gregor Robertson and city staff for giving organizers the (oh, the puns) green light.

Anyway, that鈥檚 old news.

I鈥檓 more interested in what鈥檚 going to happen on 4-29, as in April 29.

That鈥檚 the deadline the city gave to operators of illegal marijuana dispensaries to shut down their pot shops. That deadline doesn鈥檛 include those operators working their way through city channels to get a coveted business licence.

It鈥檚 not clear to me 鈥� even after speaking to Andreea Toma, the city鈥檚 chief licensing inspector 鈥� how many shops will be targeted after April 29. That鈥檚 no fault of Toma, or my math skills, it鈥檚 just that this dispensary licence thing is complicated.

Here鈥檚 why鈥�

So far, the city has granted development permits to a grand total of six shops out of 176 applications. That permit allows an operator to apply for a business licence. When I checked last week, only two operators had applied and it could be another month or so before the city grants the first licence.

Another 11 operators have applied for a development permit and the city continues to review the applications. Then there are those 62 operators who were initially rejected by the city and have taken their case to the Board of Variance; so far eight have had their appeals rejected.

Still with me?

Add another 20 or so whose shops were considered to be too close to each other and are awaiting the city鈥檚 decision to see if they will be among the six or seven allowed to proceed to the next step.

Then consider the 38 or 39 who didn鈥檛 bother to appeal and continue to operate a pot shop 鈥� but may or may not have applied for a different location, which would keep their application active, but the city hasn鈥檛 cross-referenced the addresses to see if that鈥檚 the case 鈥� and you can see why Toma couldn鈥檛 even give me a ballpark number on which shops the city plans to shut down.

鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to say,鈥� she said.

And by shut down, Toma means enforcement action. And by enforcement action, she means ticketing, prosecution and possibly getting city council to approve injunction applications to go before the B.C. Supreme Court.

None of that will likely happen to Sunny Bhayana and his partner鈥檚 Herb Co. Society on Main Street because they are one of the six dispensaries given a development permit.

When I spoke to Bhayana Monday, he said staff was getting criminal record checks and he was working with the city on a security plan. He鈥檒l then apply for a business licence.

But he, too, is wondering how the city will deal with all those pot shops that refuse to shut down April 29. That鈥檚 a real concern, he said, because a business licence will cost him $30,000 a year.

鈥淚鈥檝e talked to a lot of the main dispensaries鈥� and every single one has said, 鈥楴ope, we鈥檙e not shutting down, we鈥檙e fighting this,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淥bviously, for us, we want people to close down because that鈥檚 how we鈥檙e going to generate more business.鈥�

May, it seems, will also be a big month for marijuana enthusiasts.

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@Howellings