Pubdate: Wed, 10 Jun 2015
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2015 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: James Keller
Page: S3

AN EXPLANATION OF VANCOUVER'S POT DISPENSARIES

What is a dispensary?

Dispensaries are storefront operations that sell marijuana to 
customers who say they have a medical need. Some operations require 
customers to provide medical documentation, such as a note from a 
doctor or other health-care professional, but others are less strict. 
The owner of Vancouver's largest chain has said he will provide up to 
a gram of marijuana products to any adult who asks, without any 
medical documents. Several have on-site naturopaths and at least one 
allows prospective patients to consult a naturopath via video chat. 
Unlike the legal medical marijuana system, which provides only dried 
pot, many dispensaries sell oils, creams, cookies and other products 
made with marijuana.

Are they legal?

No. The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act makes it illegal to sell 
pot outside the federal medical marijuana program, which permits a 
handful of licensed producers to provide the drug through a 
mail-order system. Medical marijuana dispensaries are selling and 
obtaining it illegally. Some dispensaries have said they get their 
supply from home growers who were approved under the old federal 
system, many of whom have been allowed to continue growing due to an 
ongoing court case. Still, those authorizations from Health Canada do 
not allow those home growers to sell the drug to dispensaries.

What has happened in Vancouver?

The City of Vancouver and its police department have taken a 
hands-off approach to dispensaries, intervening only if there is a 
risk to the public, such as sales to minors.

The police department says dispensaries are a "low priority," 
although it has executed search warrants at nine locations. Most of 
those stores reopened within weeks.

That reality has allowed the number of dispensaries in the city to 
explode, to at least 98 today from 14 in 2013, making them more 
common than Starbucks (the city's database of business licences lists 
91 Starbucks locations).

Dispensaries operate openly in all corners of the city, many with 
sidewalk sandwich boards or bright neon signs advertising medical 
marijuana for sale.

What is the City of Vancouver proposing?

Despite the city's previous claims that it had no way to regulate 
marijuana dispensaries, council is considering a plan to create a 
special licence category for "marijuana-related" businesses, 
including dispensaries. The proposed rules would create a system to 
consult the community before granting licences, impose a licence fee 
of $30,000 a year and prohibit dispensaries from operating within 300 
metres of schools, community centres or other dispensaries.

The federal Conservative government has strongly opposed the idea of 
regulating dispensaries. Health Minister Rona Ambrose and Public 
Safety Minister Steven Blaney wrote councillors a letter in April 
urging them not to proceed, although the ministers did not say what - 
if anything - Ottawa would do to intervene.

What about the rest of the country?

Vancouver is unique in the sheer number of dispensaries, but some are 
operating elsewhere. The Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis 
Dispensaries released figures in February that listed 21 dispensaries 
outside B.C., including one in Nova Scotia, four in Quebec, 13 in 
Ontario, one in Manitoba and two in Alberta.

In addition to Vancouver's dispensaries, the association said at 
least 35 were elsewhere in B.C.

City councillors in Victoria are considering introducing rules 
similar to those of Vancouver. Local governments and police 
departments in other cities such as Burnaby have raided and shut down 
dispensaries.

How is this related to the federal mail-order system?

Last year, the federal government overhauled the medical marijuana 
system by establishing a regulated commercial market in which 
patients order the drug from a list of licensed producers. This legal 
system is unrelated to the dispensary issue.

What happens next?

The City of Vancouver has scheduled a public hearing for Wednesday 
evening as it considers the proposal, although the idea appears to 
have the support of the governing Vision Vancouver party.

If council adopts the new rules, they could be in place by fall.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom