Pubdate: Thu, 14 May 2015
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Gordon McIntyre
Page: 14

POT ADVERTS CONTRAVENE CRIMINAL CODE, FOES SAY

Letter to Ottawa: Group Says False Advertising Threat to Safety

Pamela McColl thinks she's found a way to nail the scores of 
marijuana dispensaries that have opened in Vancouver, if only she 
could find an agency to go along.

The issue is a hot potato, with regulatory bodies, federal 
departments, police forces and city halls only too happy to pass it along.

Health Canada made it clear to The Province earlier this week that 
such dispensaries are illegal under the Food and Drugs Act, as is 
their advertising on radio and in print.

But Health Canada said it can only enforce advertising rules, not 
shut down the dispensaries.

"(But) I was told by Health Canada they do not look after illegal 
operations, only the licensees," McColl said.

In frustration, McColl, a director with Smart Approaches to Marijuana 
Canada, has turned to federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay, whose 
department oversees the Competition Bureau.

"It is our organization's view that recent advertising of illegal 
marijuana retail operations have been running in Vancouver newspapers 
and radio stations contravening Canada's Criminal Code, under which 
advertising regulations are governed," she wrote MacKay.

By law, only licensed industrial growers - there are six in B.C. - 
can sell medicinal marijuana, and promotion of their products is 
strictly limited to name, strength and price.

Yet mosey into many street-front dispensaries and you'd be informed 
cannabis can apparently heal more ills than snake oil and echinacea combined.

"Claims are being made in regards to marijuana as a medicine that 
cannot be substantiated and which amount to false, misleading and 
deceptive advertising," McColl said. "Such advertising and claims 
pose a serious threat to public safety."

With marijuana retail stores popping up like Starbucks coffee houses, 
McColl said there are now 91 dispensaries in Vancouver.

There are many concerns, not the least being the lack of 
child-proofing pot packages and marketing pot to teens, as some 
tobacco companies have done, she said.

"And our concern is, if selling marijuana becomes normal and 
commercial, Big Pot would get control, just like Big Tobacco. If the 
big guys get in, we'll never get rid of them."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom