Pubdate: Wed, 12 Feb 2014
Source: Saanich News (CN BC)
Page: A4
Copyright: 2014 Saanich News
Contact:  http://www.saanichnews.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1209
Author: Tom Fletcher

PRESCRIPTION POT PRETENSE TO END

On April 1, medical marijuana growing licences expire across the
country, and only licensed commercial growers will be able to legally
fill a prescription for pot.

Ottawa is moving to clean up the mess it created by issuing medical
licences all over the country. Since then, municipalities have
complained that small-scale medical licences have been greatly
exceeded, with many used as fronts for a criminal drug trade that has
made B.C. infamous around the world.

How big is the problem? There are about 38,000 Canadians licensed to
carry marijuana for medical purposes, and half of them live in B.C.
Their permission to grow their own or buy it from designated
small-scale growers is withdrawn in a couple of months.

Here's a look at the community level. Police in the Fraser Valley
suburb of Maple Ridge estimate that it alone has 500 properties
licensed to grow pot. No, Maple Ridge is not a world hotspot for
glaucoma or arthritis. It is historically known for its secluded
properties and as a base for B.C.'s prison system and the province's
Hells Angels.

Police have only an estimate because Ottawa's bungled medical pot
scheme conceals the location of licensed growers from provincial and
local governments.

RCMP Insp. Dave Fleugel told Maple Ridge council last week that his
detachment will first target medical growers they know are linked to
organized crime. But it's difficult to determine which are legal and
which are not.

"This has the potential to cripple the courts," Fleugel said.
"Something is going to have to take a back seat if we are going to go
after all of them."

The police and fire department have proposed an amnesty or grace
period, allowing people to disclose their location and have it
properly dismantled without penalty, to help deal with the volume.

This mess was created by Ottawa in response to a court ruling that
forced them to make medical pot available. The Harper government
remains trapped in a failed war-on-drugs mentality that prevents any
innovation or even common sense.

Then there is the circus in Vancouver, where self-styled princes of
pot exploit the confusion of the medical marijuana law to run an
Amsterdam-style retail trade.

Cannabis Culture, the pot and propaganda empire built by Marc Emery
before he was jailed in the U.S., rants about the government's "war on
patients," amid garish ads for "pot by post" and exotic weed varieties.

"By Health Canada's own estimate, the cost will increase from $5 per
gram to $8.80 per gram - going up by nearly 400 per cent," its website
warns. Apparently smoking lots of weed really is bad for your math
skills.

Dana Larsen, who spearheaded the ill-conceived and failed
decriminalization petition last year, heads up the serious-looking
"Medical Cannabis Dispensary." It has done so well at its location in
the drug bazaar of East Hastings Street that it's got a branch office
in downtown Vancouver.

Its official-looking forms have a long list of conditions where only a
confirmation of diagnosis is required. In addition to genuine
conditions such as side effects of chemotherapy, it includes anxiety,
psoriasis, spinal cord injury and even "substance addictions/withdrawal."

And did you know you can get a vet's note to buy medical pot for your
pet?

Larsen has boasted about the exotic offerings of his stores, including
"watermelon hash oil" at $150 for 2.5 grams. Wow man, that's like 400
million per cent higher!

Fittingly, this farce goes back underground on April Fool's Day.
Medical users can only order shipments from an approved commercial
producer.  
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D