Pubdate: Tue, 20 Jan 2015
Source: Parksville Qualicum Beach News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Black Press
Contact:  http://www.pqbnews.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1361
Author: Auren Ruvinsky

POLICE SAY DISPENSERY IS ILLEGAL

A compassion club that nonchalantly opened its door last week in 
downtown Parksville is coming under fire from Oceanside RCMP and the 
mayor who say the operation is "completely illegal."

But Akil Pessoa says he's here to stay.

"We're not going away," vowed Pessoa, managing director of Phoenix 
Pain Management Society, a non-profit that distributes medical 
marijuana by donation.

"It doesn't mean there won't be knee-jerk reactions causing people to 
come in here in jackboots once in a while to throw me out in the 
street, but we'll just start again."

Oceanside RCMP Staff Sgt. Brian Hunter told The NEWS Friday the 
society is "100 per cent illegal."

Hunter said dispensaries and compassion clubs who distribute 
marijuana, medical or otherwise, are trafficking an illegal substance.

"As chief of police, I do not support illegal activity in my 
community," said Hunter. "Any company that is not authorized by 
Health Canada to distribute drugs is illegal."

When asked by The NEWS Saturday, Parksville mayor Marc Lefebvre said 
it was the first he'd heard about it.

"That's in Parksville?" Lefebvre asked. "That's completely illegal."

Lefebvre said he would contact city staff and police to discuss it 
but offered "our position is that (the society) is illegal and we 
don't support it."

Despite resistance, Pessoa said he wants to be on the forefront of change.

"Prohibition ends once," he said anticipating Canada will legalize 
marijuana in the near future. "I'm not going to be like my parents 
lying about Woodstock."

He said "there's no great event of the next 10 years that I care 
about this much."

Phoenix opened a compassion club for medical marijuana users in 
Nanaimo four months ago and a branch in Parksville last week. Pessoa 
said they work with members who have a "demonstrated medical need," 
and help them manage their pain with marijuana for a donation.

He said people in the industry generally fall into three categories: 
"criminals of questionable character, business people in it for the 
money who don't really understand the industry, and well meaning 
activists, hippy types who are not very good at the business side."

Phoenix's goal is to bridge the gap in the last two categories.

Not a fan of the industrial approach, Pessoa said he gets his product 
from small scale local growers.

On top of mounting political and medical reasons, he feels "public 
opinion is way ahead of the legislative process. It's going to 
happen, history's moving in that direction," and, selfishly he 
admits, he wants to be involved.

"So I spent a lot of money on some lawyers, spent a lot of time on 
research and came out and started meeting community members, started 
meeting activists and people who'd been around doing it," he said.

Phoenix became a registered society in May and began easing into the 
existing structure of growers and patients in the region, looking to 
be as non-invasive as possible.

Pessoa said the goal in Parksville is to "invite people in and they 
help us build it."

They are also reaching out to the activist community, and want to be 
a community hub, or "Block Parents for activists."

Phoenix now has 230 members, mostly in Nanaimo, and Pessoa said he 
was surprised by the demographic, from "little old lady growers, 
great big smiling old men who give me bear hugs, senior citizens who 
come out and cut the hedges... it's definitely a mature crowd, but 
with a lot of young people. But it's a more conscientious set of 
young people, this isn't let's hang out and get stoned."

The Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) came into 
effect on April 1, 2014. The MMPR and its predecessor, the Medical 
Marijuana Access Regulations (MMAR), provide the only legal means for 
Canadians, when supported by a physician, to access marijuana for 
medical purposes.

Jamie Shaw, president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis 
Dispensaries (CAMCD), told The NEWS there is currently no legislation 
allowing for compassion clubs or pot dispensaries to operate in 
Canada, though there are many.

She said the "grey area" regarding federal legislation, coupled with 
a number of pending court cases has made for an interesting time in 
the marijuana industry.

There are an estimated 60 dispensaries in the Vancouver area alone.

Shaw said dispensaries and clubs were a response to demand not being met.

"The courts have suggested the government look at the dispensary 
model and they're still trying to decide if they are workable 
exceptions," she said.

But because they are illegal, there is no formal regulatory body 
overseeing them.

That's why CAMCD was formed, Shaw said, in an effort to provide some 
type of standard for dispensaries who must adhere to strict 
guidelines to be a member. According to their website, there are 
eight members at this time including the B.C. Compassion Club Society.

As for Phoenix, they aren't a member of CAMCD. They don't even have, 
or apparently need, a business licence as a society - but Pessoa said 
they want one.

"We have a point to prove, we're here representing members of your 
community, we want to be a part of the community, give me a business 
licence," Pessoa said. "We want to know the rules to operate under 
like everybody else."

On Thursday, a medical marijuana dispensary in Kelowna was raided by 
police and the owners of the shop could face potential drug charges 
after RCMP seized a large quantity of cannabis.

Phoenix Pain Management Society is located in downtown Parksville.

Pessoa encourages and welcomes members of the community to drop by 
and see what the shop is all about.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom