Pubdate: Mon, 05 Apr 2010
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2010 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Anthony Reinhart
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)

'COMPASSION CLUB' PROVIDING MEDICINAL MARIJUANA SHUT DOWN BY POLICE

Advocates for looser pot restrictions are pointing to the raid as a 
sign of the ineffectiveness of the federal medicinal marijuana program

When the burning becomes too much, Josh Dvorkin pulls out his 
lighter, lights up a joint and fires back.

Mr. Dvorkin, who injured his spinal cord when he fell during an 
epileptic seizure five years ago, has since relied on medical 
marijuana to relieve neuropathic pain. To get the drug, he takes his 
Health Canada licence to buy five grams of pot a day and rides his 
electric wheelchair to CALM - which stands for Cannabis As Living 
Medicine - a compassion club that operates behind an unmarked 
storefront on Queen Street East.

"Agitated" would be a more apt name for the club since Toronto police 
raided it last Wednesday. Undercover officers, armed with a warrant 
and backed up by uniformed officers, arrested nine workers and seized 
16.5 kilograms of marijuana, 1.9 kg of hashish, 200 grams of hash 
oil, a quantity of cash and the club's computers.

The raid, which came 14 years into CALM's otherwise hassle-free 
existence, has left a trail of questions in its wake. The most 
immediate one for Mr. Dvorkin and nearly 2,000 other members is, 
where will I get my weed?

"I don't know," Mr. Dvorkin said Sunday at the club. It remains 
closed indefinitely, but he was there with owner Neev Tapiero, club 
lawyer Ron Marzel and others to plot next steps, including a protest 
outside police headquarters next Sunday. "It just makes every day 
that much more unliveable," the 34-year-old Ryerson University 
journalism student added.

Detective Jim Brons, the investigating officer who led the raid, was 
off duty and unavailable to explain the raid. A police source, 
however, said "I don't think it's done arbitrarily." Mr. Tapiero said 
officers told him only that they were "acting on complaints."

Advocates for looser pot restrictions are pointing to the raid - 
caught on several of the club's security cameras and since posted on 
YouTube - as a sign of the ineffectiveness of the federal medicinal 
marijuana program.

"The simple solution to all this is for Health Canada to licence 
large-scale medical cannabis production facilities," said Mr. Marzel, 
one of a handful of lawyers who specialize in challenging the 
country's marijuana laws.

As it stands, licensed patients can buy their pot from Health Canada, 
grow small quantities for themselves or designate someone to grow it 
for them. However, many argue the regulations make it overly 
difficult to obtain the drug in sufficient quality and quantity, and 
instead buy from compassion clubs such as CALM.

Various courts have upheld patients' complaints about the Health 
Canada program, and other club operators have seen similar charges - 
namely, possession for the purpose of trafficking - dropped in previous cases.
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