Pubdate: Thu, 19 Mar 2015
Source: Chief, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Whistler Printing & Publishing
Website: http://www.squamishchief.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2414
Author: Jennifer Thuncher

DISPENSARY PLANS TO STAY OPEN

Bryan Raiser said he's encouraged by Squamish council support

Today is the day.

The RCMP told Bryan Raiser that he had to close his medical marijuana
dispensary by Thursday, March 19.

Tuesday night he won, symbolically anyway, the support of district of
Squamish council.

Raiser appeared before council Tuesday night and asked that they pass
a motion in support of access to medical marijuana derivatives. The
motion was similar to that passed in January by city council in Grand
Forks, which is also an RCMP jurisdiction.

The motion stated that council will request that the federal
government include marijuana derivatives, such as cannabis oils, be
included in the legal marijuana program and that government further
review legislation and options for greater local access.

"The actual production of medical marijuana - the licensing piece - is
currently mired in the courts right now, and I think it provides a
service and a medicine for people who need it, so I am happy to
support the motion," said Mayor Patricia Heintzman.

"I do support this," said Councillor Doug Race, "partly because I
think the federal government, almost by any standard, has made a real
mess of this and needs to take real steps to clarify it. These are
people who would have doctors' prescriptions, of course. This is not
selling drugs on the street, by a long shot."

Council unanimously passed the motion.

Raiser said he was happy with the move by council, but still nervous
about the coming days.

"The situation is far from over, but I continue to be heartened by the
support," Raiser told The Squamish Chief shortly after the council
passed his motion.

He said he would be speaking with his lawyer about his next
steps.

"I will do everything in my power to keep those doors open in some
form or other, and I couldn't do that without all the support I've
been getting," he said.

Since The Squamish Chief reported last week that Raiser had received
an RCMP letter to close his medical marijuana dispensary, Raiser says
he has heard nothing but support from the public.

"Even people who aren't big fans of my previous political decisions
have come out in huge support," Raiser said from his 99 North Medical
Cannabis Dispensary.

"I have fought so many battles in my years and I have never come close
to fighting something where I have 100 per cent support of the
community," he said.

Raiser opened on Feb. 16 at 37768 Second Avenue in downtown
Squamish.

On March 5 the local RCMP visited to deliver a letter that, according
to Raiser, said they intend to take action if he does not close by
Thursday, Raiser said. In the letter, marijuana dispensaries are
termed "illegal."

Squamish RCMP Staff Sgt. Brian Cumming said he couldn't comment
specifically about Raiser's dispensary.

"What I can say is that the law clearly states at this time that the
sale of marijuana by any means other than those outlined in the
Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) is not legal
anywhere in Canada," Cumming told The Squamish Chief by email.

Raiser said he is deeply disappointed in the actions of the Squamish
RCMP, but he understands that the members are just following orders
from higher up.

"It is like the war [against medical marijuana] has been declared
over, but you haven't got official orders=C2=85. People are actually bein
g
helped and finding relief, you can't be against that."

He has had a hard time telling some of his customers that he may have
to close.

"Now that I have seen the faces of who this is affecting, I can't
sleep at night, knowing they are in the alley," he said, his voice
breaking with emotion.

"It is utter madness."

He said that while there are upwards of 60 medical marijuana shops
operating in Vancouver, many of his customers don't have the financial
means to get to the city or are too sick to travel.

Raiser offers medical marijuana in various forms, including dried
cannabis, oils, edible and topical marijuana. Patients can obtain the
drug with a prescription from a health care practitioner that must be
faxed to the dispensary or through documents that confirm a diagnosis
of certain conditions such as cancer, anxiety or arthritis, according
to Raiser.

Dana Larsen of Sensible BC, a medical marijuana advocacy group, said
dispensaries operate within RCMP jurisdictions in many small
communities across the country.

"Police absolutely do have discretion," he said.

TAGGS Dispensary in Maple Ridge, an RCMP jurisdiction, said there had
been no issue with the RCMP there, even though the dispensary has
operated for years, according to an employee who answered a call from
The Squamish Chief.

A dispensary also operates in Grand Forks, which is under RCMP
jurisdiction.

Larsen said the situation in Squamish and other locations such as
Parksville, where a shop has also been told to close, reminds him of
the crackdown on bong and pot paraphernalia shops in the 1990s.
Eventually the message from communities to the police was to leave the
shops alone, Larsen said, and so at this point even though it is
illegal to sell a bong and pot accessories, no one is charged for
selling them.

"I would encourage him to stay open," Larsen said of
Raiser.

John Weston, Conservative Member of Parliament for West
Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country sent the following statement 

to The Squamish Chief regarding the threatened closure of the dispensary 

in Squamish: "Overall, dispensaries are illegal, and always have been.
The medical marijuana program has never allowed for storefronts, nor
does the reformed program permit them."

Local lawyer Greg Diamond told the Squamish Chief that up until April
2014, medical marijuana was regulated by Health Canada through the
Medical Marihuana Access Regulations (MMAR).

"People could obtain licenses to possess and to grow marijuana through
this scheme. Commercial dispensaries were not contemplated in these
laws. Instead, it seems compassion clubs and similar dispensaries
sprang up to fill a need for those that could not grow their own or
could not find someone to grow for them. These dispensaries were not
legal, but they appear to have been tolerated, especially in larger
centres like Vancouver where law enforcement resources were not being
focused on marijuana," Diamond said.

In April 2014, the Federal Government enacted the Marihuana for
Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) to replace the MMAR. Now,
production and distribution of marijuana must be done through
commercially licensed facilities that report to Health Canada,
according to Diamond.

"As such, there is no longer the impetus to tolerate non-licensed
dispensaries like Raiser's," explained the lawyer, who does not
represent Raiser. "Despite the apparent need for Raiser's services, if
he continues to dispense marijuana without the proper licensing, then
he may be subject to prosecution for trafficking and even liability
under the Civil Forfeiture Act, something he has good reason to fear."

- -------------------------------

Tale of another dispensary

The Kootenay's Medicine Tree Medical Cannabis Dispensary, in Grand
Forks, B.C. operates in an RCMP jurisdiction, and staff can relate to
what Bryan Raiser is going through with the threatened closure of his
medical marijuana dispensary.

The Kootenay dispensary was in full operation with a storefront from
August to December 2014, with a business license granted by Grand
Forks city hall, according to Jim Leslie, executive director of the
dispensary.

When RCMP officers came to tell them they had to shut down on Dec. 22,
staff asked if the store could stay open as a resource centre to
provide information, and the RCMP said that was fine.

Then the store went public with what had happened and received great
community support.

"In that time we gained legitimacy in the local medical community,"
said Leslie, a former border guard.

The staff took the support they had and went before Grand Forks
council and asked council to support local storefront access for
medical marijuana.

The council passed a motion to write the federal government and the
Supreme Court of Canada and ask them to make marijuana derivatives
legally accessible, according to Leslie.

The dispensary continued to supply medical marijuana and currently
does so, but "through other channels outside of the
storefront."

Leslie said he feels RCMP do have discretion. The dispensary hasn't
had a visit from the RCMP since December.

"We are in a very strange position in the dying days of prohibition,"
said Leslie.
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MAP posted-by: Matt