Pubdate: Wed, 05 Mar 2014
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2014 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Jeff Lee

POLICE WON'T CRACK DOWN ON MEDICAL POT GROWERS

No plan to enforce new federal law in Vancouver

VANCOUVER * Police in Vancouver say they will not raid the city's many
illegal medical marijuana dispensaries after a federal law takes
effect on April 1 and reduces marijuana production and distribution to
a handful of licensed premises.

The city also will not make any extraordinary efforts to shut down
medical marijuana dispensaries, even though most operate without city
business licences.

The Vancouver Police Department said it is aware of at least 29
illegal medical marijuana dispensaries in the city but doesn't go near
them as long as they are selling only to people who have a medical
marijuana permit.

"I don't think for now there is any plan to change the current drug
policy that is in place to fit specifically with these changes," said
Const. Brian Montague. "We don't have plans for massive raids on April
2nd."

Under the new federal law, the country's 22,000 pot producers will
stop production and patients instead will buy their marijuana directly
from a small number of licensed growers. The law would not allow the
commercial licensed growers to sell anything other than dried
marijuana, even though many patients want or require extracts,
tinctures and oils, claiming they are more effective.

A group of B.C. patients is suing Health Canada, arguing the changes
will result in severe shortages of pot, higher prices and would
violate their constitutional rights.

Health Canada has countered in court documents that the current
Medical Marijuana Access Regulations were never intended to permit the
growth of an industry. The system came into place in 2001 with 85
permits; in 2013, more than 29,719 personal use permits were issued.
Health Canada projects that by 2024 there will be 450,000 recognized
users, creating a taxable industry with potential annual revenues of
$1.3-billion.

Health Canada says the marijuana dispensaries represent a public
safety issue because they are both illegal and unregulated.

But the police who enforce drug laws in Vancouver disagree. Const.
Montague said police have shut down three medical marijuana
dispensaries in recent years that were found to be fronts for
trafficking. But the dispensaries now in business don't appear to be
doing that, he said.

"The dispensaries all operate differently, but some of them you go
into and it's like walking into a medical clinic," he said. "Everybody
is wearing lab coats and somebody comes in with their licence to
possess marijuana medically, and they sell them the marijuana and it
is like filling a prescription."

Const. Montague said police need to put their scarce resources toward
public safety and reducing street disorder, not go after dispensaries
that are providing medicine to people.

"From our policy and our perspective, if these places are operating in
a professional, safe manner - and obviously the criminal element of
the sale of marijuana is illegal - and if there is no additional
element that would cause us concern for public safety, then we use our
discretion not to enforce certain drug laws," he said.

The city's position on medical marijuana dispensaries comes as new
information from Health Canada suggests that B.C. accounts for nearly
70% of the more than three million marijuana plants authorized for
production in Canada.

Vancouver Councillor Kerry Jang - who closely watches health issues -
said the city believes the new law interferes with the right of people
to access medicine. "It really is about access to medication, and the
rules under the new federal law would essentially block people from
getting their medication," he said. Producers now seeking Health
Canada permits say they are not concerned about Vancouver's illegal
dispensaries. Anton Mattadeen, the chief strategy officer for
MediJean, which has received preliminary approval to produce 90,000
kilograms of weed the first year at a new facility in Richmond, said
there is no shortage of demand.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt