Pubdate: Wed, 12 Nov 2014
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Ian Mulgrew
Page: C3

THEY'RE HIGH ON CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

Medical pot: Dispensaries increase legalization momentum, despite
Ottawa's eff orts

Sitting in the back of the Weeds Glass & Gifts outlet on Burrard,
pounds of pot at his feet, Don Briere beamed about the bright, bright
future.

Forget the pipeline protesters - the most successful civil
disobedience movement in Vancouver is the burgeoning number of illegal
medical marijuana dispensaries.

And the irrepressible Briere had been at the vanguard of the many
entrepreneurs who have opened more than 40 shops across the city and
elsewhere.

"I think Vancouver has turned the page - they know what is going on,
they've done all kinds of things to let dispensaries operate," Briere
said.

"And there's Kelowna, Vernon, Victoria and Nanaimo. =C2=85 They're going 
to
pop up everywhere and I plan to open a whole bunch more. We're serving
hundreds and hundreds of people daily."

The green business rush for the spoils has been spurred by Liberal
leader Justin Trudeau advocating legalization and the looming federal
election - which have created a frisson that change could be upon us,
giving law-enforcement pause.

Together with U. S. election results, the illegal dispensaries
emphasize why we need a grown-up discussion about
cannabis.

As a result of Tuesday's vote, marijuana is now legal in four states
and Washington, D. C. Another five - including California,
Massachusetts and Nevada - are expected to have legalization on the
2016 ballot.

Still another half-dozen states are looking at creating or expanding
medical cannabis programs and reducing penalties for possession.

In this country, however, the federal government refuses to talk
sensibly about withdrawing from the Drug War declared by America more
than 40 years ago.

That conflict has been a bigger disaster than Vietnam and resulted in
cash-strapped states, world-leading incarceration rates and an
incredible increase in substance abuse.

That's why we are seeing sea change south of the border. Sick people
and research on the beneficial uses of cannabis are exposing myths
that have dominated drug policy for the last century.

But the Tories are ignoring the evidence and sowing confusion -
insisting onmarijuana's perniciousness and thinking about making it a
ticketing offence.

Although Ottawa has passed a new medical marijuana law, it is being
challenged in court and the thousands of home gardeners continue to
tend their plants if they had licences under the old scheme while that
case is being heard.

The new regime would force patients to buy their medication from one
of more than a dozen corporations licensed by the government.

Regardless of the nuances, dispensaries, clinics, compassion clubs,
call them what you will, they are legal under neither regime - but
that is making not a bit of a difference.

These store fronts are selling to people with doctor's prescriptions
for marijuana, people who formerly had exemptions under the old plan,
people with notes from a naturopath and anyone else they deem "in need."

The attitude is federal law be damned, especially if city police and
others aren't enforcing it.

Running the risk of prosecution simply does not intimidate
Briere.

Like most long-term cannabis advocates, he is no stranger to the
legal system.

He gained infamy in 1999 as the mastermind of what was - up to then -
B. C.' s most humungous grow-op network and even greater notoriety in
2004 while on parole by opening the Da Kine cafe on Commercial Drive
to dispense pot products.

While the city was willing to look the other way for the Compassion
Club, such a supersuccessful coffee shop drawing international
attention was too much of a thumb in the eye for the good burghers.

Within six months, helicopters hovered over the east side, traffic was
rerouted and black-balaclavaclad SWAT officers raided the lounge
capable of generating $ 25,000- plus a day.

After three years of legal wrangling on the taxpayers' tab, Briere was
sentenced to 2 1/2 years, but did only onethird of the time.

Two years ago, I interviewed him as he sat on what was called the
toker's throne, basking in the neon glow of an old Da Kine sign.

He was 61, sporting a pacemaker, celebrating after opening the
Vancouver Pain Management Society dispensary several blocks south of
the old Da Kine location.

Today, he's involved in eight stores with 27 employees.

A decade ago, I wrote that medical marijuana was a Trojan Horse for
legalization - and that is what broke down the barriers in America,
and what is coming to pass here.

Ostensibly selling "medical" cannabis, the shops view "someone in
need" as anyone feeling blue, from those with a prescription bottle
for anti-gout pills to chemotherapy patients.

And they are not replacing street dealing - they are far too
expensive.

I believe they cater to middleclass people who don't have a personal
dealer, are anxious about buying on the corner and prefer the patina
of respectability and legitimacy these stores offer.

They also provide a great spectrum of derivatives and edibles, not
just smokable bud.

This customer base of working people who also are actual voters has
given city politicians pause and Trudeau the courage to promise change.

"Cannabis should be regulated like any other business," has been
Briere's constant message for years, and it is no longer falling on
deaf ears.

"Bottom line is Liberals are ahead in some polls and change is coming
in that direction."

He took heart at the U. S. election results ("Though, too bad about
Florida") and thought Canada needed better tools for the public to
influence lawmakers, like the U. S. ballot initiatives.

Change would come sooner, he said: "A lot of pot people feel
vindicated because of what is going on. America is selling
recreational cannabis over the counter after years of Ottawa telling
us we couldn't have change because the U. S. would penalize us. =C2=85 It

was economic blackmail." Civil disobedience? Think Don Briere and
medicinal cannabis providers.
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MAP posted-by: Matt