Pubdate: Wed, 22 Jul 2015
Source: Alberni Valley Times (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Glacier Community Media
Contact:  http://www.avtimes.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4043
Page: 4
Note: The Canadian Press (Winnipeg Free Press)

MARIJUANA LAWS ARE LONG OVERDUE FOR CHANGE

There is no better evidence of the change in attitudes about 
marijuana than the forbearance demonstrated by the Winnipeg Police 
Service in connection with a man who is openly selling pot from a 
storefront operation.

The police service issued a news release Monday saying it would not 
tolerate the lawless conduct of Glenn Price, who has been selling 
what he calls medical marijuana even though he is not licensed by 
Health Canada and his product has not been acquired from authorized 
government dispensers.

That's some 22 days after Mr. Price announced to the world he was 
selling pot to customers with a prescription from a doctor. The 
police response back then was he should stop selling drugs.

There was no threat of enforcement against the entrepreneur, who has 
a civic occupancy permit and permission to carry out his illegal 
business from the landlord. The provincial company's branch was also 
aware what he was up to.

In pure legal terms, he's a drug trafficker (a term police would not 
have hesitated to use a decade ago) - but times have changed.

Instead of raiding Mr. Price's Main Street establishment, Your 
Medical Cannabis Headquarters, when he started selling to customers 
on July 1, police simply ignored the problem.

On Monday, however, police threatened to "respond appropriately" if 
Mr. Price continued to flaunt the law. The only thing missing from 
the news release was a line saying, "We really mean it this time."

The lackadaisical response was a tacit acknowledgment that even law 
enforcement no longer considers pot to be a dangerous drug that will 
produce insanity or mayhem in all who use it.

The Harper government, however, is stuck in a time warp, resisting 
the tide of history that is leading to decriminalization or legalization.

The Conservatives have pressured police in other cities where similar 
pot dispensaries are operating, but they haven't had the success they 
would like.

In Vancouver, for example, police have refused a federal request to 
crack down on the owner of 11 stores that dispense marijuana in the 
same way as Mr. Price. They said they have more important work to do.

Meanwhile, the smell of marijuana wafted inside and out of Mr. 
Price's business Tuesday, where protesters had gathered to protect 
the business if police showed up. The cops didn't come - they don't 
like unnecessary confrontations in front of the media - but they are 
likely to show up sometime in the near future with a warrant.

The big question is whether they will merely seize his product and 
charge him with a minor offence or throw the book at him with a 
charge of possession of marijuana for the purpose or trafficking.

Either way, Mr. Price says he intends to continue pursuing what he 
considers a mission of mercy.

People who want marijuana because of a medical condition claim it 
takes too long to get it through official channels and the product is 
inferior and often ineffective.

Lawyers like to say weak cases make bad laws. With that in mind, the 
Crown may want to be careful about how it proceeds against Mr. Price.

The Supreme Court of Canada has already shown some sympathy for 
medical marijuana users, ruling recently they could use the drug as 
an oil, tea or other edible product. The problem is Health Canada 
still won't make it available in those forms.

Like the failed abortion prosecutions of the early 1980s, police and 
the Crown may find juries and judges are loathe to jail citizens who 
are dispensing marijuana to people with a doctor's prescription, 
particularly when the evidence would show Ottawa is incompetent and 
obstructionist in carrying out the task.

It's time to change the law and end this persecution of pot users.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom