Pubdate: Mon, 02 Jun 2014
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Elaine O'Connor
Page: A3

MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES NOW MORE LIKE POT SPAS AS MARKET BOOMS

By the federal government's own estimates, the number of medical 
marijuana patients in Canada could grow from just under 40,000 to 
400,000 in the next decade - with half of them residing in B.C.

New rules introduced April 1 appear to be hastening growth in the 
number of patients.

And Lower Mainland medical marijuana dispensaries are filling the 
void, offering ingenious ways to deliver patients' pot prescriptions.

Vancouver alone has more than 20 storefront pharmacies offering 
amenities such as cannabis oil massages, juice bars, in-house 
naturopaths and Wi-Fi vapour lounges in an attempt to stand out in an 
increasingly crowded market of dispensaries.

Before new rules came in, patients applied to Health Canada, a 
lengthy process requiring a doctor's note. Now, doctors can issue 
medical marijuana exemptions directly.

Anticipating a new wave of customers, Matteo Suleyman, manager of the 
Sea to Sky Alternative Healing Society, just opened his second 
location on Vancouver's East Second Avenue (His first shop, opened in 
December, is on Fraser Street.).

Suleyman's clinic boasts a lounge, in-house naturopathic doctor and 
smoothie bar, where patients can get custom-blended medicinal juice.

"We want to make it easier," Suleyman said of his service 
innovations. "We'd like to educate people that you can heal yourself 
without pharmaceutical drugs."

In May, the B.C. Pain Society on Commercial Drive debuted a marijuana 
vending machine. Eden Medicinal Society has a vapour lounge with 
Wi-Fi, computer games, pool and foosball tables. Canna Clinic 
Medicinal Society, which opened a third branch on Granville Street in 
April, provides in-house cannabis oil massages.

Suleyman believes the clinic boom is due, in part, to non-aggressive 
law enforcement.

"People are still working in a grey area because we're not legal to 
do this yet. But when people saw police in Vancouver weren't going to 
interfere, it gave them more motivation and security," he said.

The Vancouver police aren't in a rush to make busts. However, the 
sale of marijuana is illegal, said VPD Const. Brian Montague, adding, 
"while these dispensaries are not a priority, it does not mean that 
they can't become a priority if public safety becomes a concern."

Health Canada rules are clear. Authorized medical marijuana patients 
- - 15,000 of them in B.C. alone - can only legally obtain medicine by 
direct mail from one of 13 approved producers in Canada, or by 
growing their own if approved for home production (some 10,900 in 
B.C. are approved), or from another approved home-producer (1,800 in B.C.).

Yet Health Canada's own statistics suggest many registered patients 
source medicine elsewhere: only 5,120 patients buy from sanctioned 
producers. These developments set the stage for a boom in the medical 
marijuana cultivation industry, which the government estimates could 
reach $1.3 billion by 2024.

"If demand increases, capacity will increase as well. There is no 
limit to the number of producers Health Canada is going to 
authorize," said the president of Bedrocan Canada, a licensed 
producer in Toronto with 1,000 patients.

In the past decade, Health Canada received 858 applications to 
produce marijuana. Of those applications, 289 of them - 101 of them 
in B.C. - are being seriously considered.

To date, 20 licences have been issued, six in B.C., among them: Canna 
Farms in Maple Ridge, Tilray in Nanaimo, In The Zone in Armstrong, 
Thunderbird Biomedical on Vancouver Island and Whistler Medical Marijuana Co.

And as the sector gains acceptance, high-profile players are stepping in.

Former B.C. premier Mike Harcourt is involved in a startup called 
True Leaf Medicine in Lumby, while former West Vancouver police chief 
Kash Heed provides security consulting for various local and national 
producers.

The one high-profile group not on board is B.C.'s doctors.

"We think Health Canada has abdicated their responsibility," said Dr. 
Heidi Oetter, registrar and CEO of the College of Physicians and 
Surgeons of B.C. "We think, quite frankly, that there are a lot of 
people who use it recreationally who, not surprisingly, want a 
medical document to support their use."

[sidebar]

Tired of toking? Try drinking, eating or rubbing it

Don't want to smoke your dose of medical marijuana?

There are many ways clinic patients can consume pot prescriptions:

Drink it - with ice tea, lemonade, soda, fruit punch, juice or coffee.

Eat it - with brownies, Nanaimo bars, fudge, chocolate, honey, 
peppermint patties, peanut butter cups, cake, candies, rice krispies, 
popcorn, lollipops, doughnuts, toffee, ice cream, bread, olive oil, 
butter, ketchup or hot sauce.

Rub it - with massage oil, lip balm, lotion, tinctures or salves.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom