Pubdate: Thu, 30 Aug 2012
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Susan Lazaruk
Page: A14

POT DISPENSARY OWNER, MOM CHARGED

Renfrew Business Raided in February After Cops Receive Complaints

A Vancouver-area man who says he operates a "medical cannabis" 
dispensary is facing drug charges along with his mother.

Vancouver police raided the iMedikate store on Renfrew Street in 
February after receiving complaints from neighbours about drug activity.

"We received numerous complaints about the sale of drugs and the fact 
that it existed close to a school," said police spokesman Const. 
Lindsey Houghton.

B.C.-wide warrants were issued for Linda Marlene Klokeid, 51, of 
Maple Ridge and Mark Thomas Klokeid, 30, of Burnaby.

Linda Klokeid is charged with three counts of trafficking in a 
controlled substance. Both are charged with one count each of 
possession for the purposes of trafficking.

In photos on his website, Mark Klokeid is seen posing with a large 
marijuana plant in one and in another he is seen with Marc Emery, a 
Vancouver marijuana activist who is serving five years in a U.S. jail 
for selling marijuana seeds online.

The Renfrew Street business, which opened in October 2011, is one of 
a handful that operate in Vancouver.

Operators maintain they only sell to buyers with a doctor's note. But 
Houghton said all such dispensaries are illegal.

Health Canada regulations that govern marijuana for medical purposes 
require that users grow the plant themselves or obtain it from 
licensed growers.

Those growers can legally only provide enough for a daily dose of 
marijuana, five to 10 grams a day, to a maximum of two users, said 
Don Schultz of Greenline Academy, a Kelowna-based company that offers 
seminars on the rules of legally selling marijuana.

He said he hasn't heard of anyone being charged with trafficking for 
operating a marijuana storefront, although he knows of such 
businesses being closed in Chilliwack, Calgary and Edmonton.
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