Pubdate: Tue, 20 Sep 2011 Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB) Copyright: 2011 Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: http://www.edmontonsun.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/135 Author: Mindelle Jacobs, Edmonton Sun POT COURSE WEEDS OUT THE ILLEGALITY People will be lined up for a Pot 101 course at Concordia University College next weekend, but don't expect your typical stoners. The two-day seminar is aimed at people who either use or grow medical marijuana and those who want to. Most medical pot patients in Alberta buy their weed off the street because it's such a headache wading through government red tape to get it, says Don Schultz, who's organizing the event. It's also almost impossible to find a doctor willing to provide a prescription for medical pot -- a Health Canada requirement. "I'm really trying to get the pot stigma away from medical marijuana because it's a medicine," says Kelowna-based Don Schultz, who's organizing the seminar. Canadians have been allowed to use pot for medical purposes for a decade but there's still so much confusion surrounding the issue that many people are too intimidated to apply to the program, either as users or growers, he says. So Schultz decided there was enough of a need for clear information about the legal and technical aspects of growing medical pot that he could make a business out of it. Last year, he took a state-approved business administration course in Colorado about medical pot, learning everything from how to set up grow-ops and dispensaries to how to manufacture pot-based tinctures, oils and salves. SWITCH It was quite a switch for the former airline transport pilot and property developer but, after more than two decades in the U.S., he was ready to return home and try something different. "Everything kind of fell into place," says Schultz who founded the Greenline Academy to educate people about Canada's medical pot regulations. "It's like a new industry," he explains. "A lot of patients don't know how to do this and I've made it very, very easy for them. I've got a manual about an inch thick that's got all the laws in it." On Saturday, a doctor and a lawyer will address the seminar. The following day, a Colorado-based cultivator will go into detail about the best way to grow medical weed. More than 100 people have signed up for the $330 course so far. As of yesterday, there were about 50 spots left. PARANOID "I get people who are totally paranoid even to buy a ticket (to the seminar). I just tell them 'you're doing it the legal way' ... and not to worry about it," says Schultz. Curiously, more people signed up for the Edmonton seminar than the one Schultz held in Vancouver in July. Perhaps that has to do with the fact that pot is openly sold in dispensaries in Vancouver and the police there turn a blind eye, says Schultz. Although Canada's medical marijuana access regulations have been around for a decade, they need refining, says Penticton lawyer Don Skogstad, who'll be at the Concordia University College event. "They're not perfect and they're hard to understand and it's good to have legal advice," he says. Health Canada officials recently suggested there are changes in the works, he adds. Skogstad figures we're headed to larger, more secure, better-zoned grow-ops. That's exactly what we need for economies of scale, he says. Currently, a grower can only have two designated grow sites with only four customers, he notes. Then again, the Ontario Court of Appeal could toss out our medical pot laws altogether, effectively making marijuana legal, when it hears a key case next year. Once again, the courts may have to knock some sense into our politicians. For tickets to the seminar, check out www.greenlineacademy.com - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.