Pubdate: Tue, 28 Jun 2011 Source: Chilliwack Times (CN BC) Copyright: 2011 Chilliwack Times Contact: http://www.chilliwacktimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1357 Author: Tyler Olsen, The Times POT 'CLUB' NIPPED IN THE BUD BY COPS The owner of a Chilliwack "compassion club" shut down by police last week is vowing to try again once he speaks with the RCMP and City of Chilliwack. Speaking to the Times on Monday, Be Kind Medical Clinic owner Bob Kay blamed a lack of communication for the raid of his short-lived clinic last week. Last Wednesday, police raided Be Kind, seized four to to five pounds of marijuana and arrested an Abbotsford man. The clinic, located on Yale Road just east of Five Corners, had posted an advertisement on Craigslist last Friday. It said its doctors would help qualified patients obtain medical marijuana cards and that a "compassion club" would distribute pot to licensed medical marijuana users. The opening date was listed as June 20. After the raid, police said they found marijuana hashish and oil extraction labs, along with the four to five pounds of dried bud in the clinic. They said marijuana oils were being used in food products including chocolate, lollipops and edible hashish. Asked what caused the problems that led to the closure of the clinic, Kay told the Times, "I think a lack of education, lack of communication on both parties." And when asked what he would do differently if he had a second chance, Kay said: "Not if, but when we do it over, I hope the city, like the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, will engage in a conversation and support us and engage in the model, rather than be the problem." In an email statement to the Times on Monday, Kay said "Be Kind Medical Clinic's intent, from the start, was to try to remove some of the barriers patients encounter when trying to gain legal access to cannabis while providing professional oversight." It concluded: "We are anticipating a meeting with the RCMP and hope to resolve the issue soon." But Kay has a long way to go in his desire to convince Mayor Sharon Gaetz to support his clinic. "They were cooking dope and they were putting people at risk," said Gaetz of the compassion club. Gaetz said fire inspectors found the operators "were cooking with isopropyl [alcohol] and at risk of setting the whole block on fire." The City of Chilliwack has since removed the occupancy permit from the building. Police arrested a 41-year-old Abbotsford man and have recommended drug possession, production and trafficking charges. The investigation is ongoing but charges have not been laid against Kay. Compassion clubs are illegal, but more than a dozen operate throughout the province dispensing cannabis to those licensed to use medical marijuana. Isaac Oommen, the communications co-ordinator with the Vancouver-based B.C. Compassion Club, said three-quarters of those who use medical marijuana access it through illegal compassion clubs that nevertheless operate in the open. "Technically speaking, we are illegal, if you want to use that word," he told the Times. However, police and city officials in Vancouver and other municipalities have shown little desire to go after the clubs. Asked about establishing the B.C. Compasssion Club, Oommen said: "It happened that the City of Vancouver was progressive enough to see the potential that the club had and its impact and accept it." Kay also operates compassion clubs in Vernon and Kelowna under the Be Kind label. Despite operating in the open, those clinics have not been shut down by police. When asked why the Chilliwack compassion club was shut down while others remain operating, RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Annie Linteau said, "These businesses are like any other individual: if we receive information suggesting what they are doing is illegal, we will be investigating," she said. For Gaetz, there is no excuse for tolerating something that is illegal. "The City of Chilliwack enforces the laws," she said. "If something is illegal, we shut it down. It seems pretty black and white to us. If there are laws that permit use, we don't shut it down, but right now Health Canada has said they do not issue licences for compassion clubs." The fact that the Be Kind Medical Clinic didn't disclose its marijuana focus before setting up shop also didn't go over well. "They tried to trick the city, plain and simple," said Gaetz. "They never indicated that this was a marijuana dispensary." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.